Under the previous policy, adults travelling with children paid one reserved seat fee, and could select seats beside them for up to four children for free. This resulted to a fee of £8 each way, a charge which was investigated by the CMA earlier this month. However, the airline has now adjusted its family seating policy. Adults travelling with children who do not wish to pay for a reserved seat will now be told of their free seat allocation after check-in, which Ryanair said was in line with most other European airlines.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said it would “reluctantly adjust to this industry standard”, but insisted its long-standing policy fully complied with laws and had given families “certainty”.
The airlines said its policy had given families certainty of where they would be sitting at the time of booking, which they had valued. It said the “free parent seats” will now be available at the back of the aircraft, as front rows tend to be reserved.
Mr O’Leary hit out at the CMA for targeting its family seating policy, which he said had been “universally embraced by consumers as the most progressive and transparent in Europe”.
He added: “Instead of promoting competitiveness and lower fares for consumers, the CMA is on a mission to force Ryanair to adopt the less transparent and less consumer-friendly family seating policy applied by most other airlines – just because it’s the industry standard.”
A CMA spokesperson said: “Ryanair claims its seating policy now complies with the law, and we’ll test that thoroughly. If true, it’s a win for families – who will no longer have to pay to sit with their children – and it shows the impact our new powers are having.
“But it doesn’t change the fact families have been paying for ‘mandatory family seats’. Our investigation remains ongoing.”