Europe’s largest airline Ryanair has changed its rules on family seating after coming under official scrutiny for making parents pay to reserve a spot with their kids. The tweak to airline policy brings the carrier in line with other European firms but was being made “reluctantly” CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement, claiming the result would be “less transparent and less consumer-friendly” bookings.
The airline had been subject to an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over its requirement for parents to reserve paid-for “mandatory” family seats if flying with children aged between two and 11 years old. Costing around €10, the seating arrangement gave parents the option to “select reserved seats beside them for up to four children on the same booking, free of charge.”
RYANAIR TWEAKS SEAT ALLOCATION FOR FAMILIES TO MATCH INDUSTRY STANDARD.
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) June 25, 2026
For bookings from today (25 June) free parent seats will be available in rear of aircraft but families can still choose their preferred seats if they so wish.
More information in below.
Instead, from 25 June, parents flying with Ryanair who do not wish to select or pay for a reserved seat, will be advised of their (free of charge) seat allocation after they have checked in for their flight, as is the case with most other airlines in Europe.
In a press release, Ryanair said the rule change was “revenue-neutral for Ryanair” but it pointed out what it implied were the disadvantages of this approach: “Families opting for this random allocation of seats beside each other are likely to be seated towards the rear of the aircraft cabin, as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first. Families who prefer to choose their seats at the time of booking and secure premium front rows will be allowed to do so by paying a seat reservation fee, in line with the policy applied by most other European airlines,” the carrier’s statement said.
The policy U-turn came just two weeks after the CMA said the budget carrier’s terms and conditions require at least one parent to sit with their children, including those with disabilities, and charges to do so. The authority’s investigation was aimed at establishing whether those terms and conditions were in breach of consumer law, focusing on how clearly passengers were shown the total price of their flight ahead of booking.
We’re investigating Ryanair over its practice of charging parents to sit with their children – including those with disabilities – and whether this could be unfair under consumer protection law.
— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) June 11, 2026
Read more: https://t.co/m06825a79J
The UK consumer champion Which? had previously welcomed the CMA announcement, with travel editor Rory Boland calling its terms and conditions “unreasonable” and a “harsh approach to separating families and making parents pay a fee to sit next to children as young as three.”
But O’Leary complained: “The CMA has now targeted our family seating policy which has been universally embraced by consumers as the most progressive and transparent in Europe. 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.”
Positioning the airline as having a better handle than authorities on what flyers want, O’Leary confirmed: “We will reluctantly adjust to this industry standard as we don’t want to waste time explaining to misguided regulators how badly they misunderstand what is in the best interest of UK and Europe’s consumers.”
