Ryanair drops family seating fee after UK regulator probe

Ryanair stopped charging parents to sit with children after the UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a probe into whether the fee was an illegal form of drip pricing. Ryanair said it had “reluctantly” changed course.

The CMA opened its formal investigation on June 11, 2026. It said Ryanair required at least one parent to sit with children aged 2 to 11 and charged about £8 per flight for the arrangement, including on both outbound and return legs. The investigation would examine whether the fee was an unfair contract term under consumer law and whether it was hidden until late in the booking process. The CMA said Ryanair was the only major airline flying out of the UK imposing such a charge, while other carriers seated children next to parents or guardians for free.

Ryanair dismissed the probe as “bogus” and defended the old policy as lawful. Michael O’Leary argued that adults traveling with children were simply paying for reserved seats, the same way other passengers do when they choose seat selection. The airline also said up to four children on the same booking could be seated beside the paying adult without any extra charge.

On June 25, Ryanair announced a new system under which adults traveling with children would be allocated a seat free of charge after check-in. Families that wanted to choose specific seats at booking could still pay for them, and those that accepted random seating could be placed toward the back of the cabin because front seats tend to sell first. UK Civil Aviation Authority guidance says young children should ideally sit in the same row as an accompanying adult, or no more than one row away, for emergency-evacuation reasons.