UK regulator probes Ryanair family seating fees

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UK watchdog probes Ryanair family seating fees, CMA asks if parents pay for safety compliance, low fares depend on charging for what rules already require

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into Ryanair’s practice of charging parents to sit next to their children, according to the BBC. The regulator says it is examining whether the fees—typically around £8 each way—are “unfair” under consumer law and whether the cost is revealed only late in the booking process.

Ryanair’s own terms require a parent to sit with a child aged between two and 11, a rule the airline enforces through what it calls a “mandatory family seat”. The CMA’s inquiry is focused on an awkward boundary between optional add-ons and obligations imposed by aviation rules: if a carrier must seat a child with an accompanying adult for safety and disability-related reasons, the regulator wants to know whether it can treat that requirement as a paid extra. The BBC reports the CMA believes Ryanair is the only major airline flying out of the UK to impose such a charge; other airlines either seat children next to a parent without a fee or allocate seats together automatically.

The case sits inside a broader push against “drip pricing”, where unavoidable charges appear only after a customer has invested time in the purchase. The CMA says it has told businesses for the past year to show total prices upfront and warns that firms that do not comply could face enforcement. Under newer powers, the regulator can fine companies up to 10% of global turnover for breaches of consumer law, a threat that turns what used to be reputational scolding into a material financial risk.

Ryanair calls the investigation “bogus” and says its family seating policy complies with laws and regulations. It argues that adults travelling with children pay for one reserved seat and that up to four children on the same booking can select seats beside them free of charge. The CMA says it is at an early stage and has reached no conclusions.

The dispute is not about whether families should pay for comfort; it is about whether a fee is being collected for the airline to do what its own rules say it must do.