UK watchdog investigates Ryanair over fees to seat parents with children
The watchdog says the fee is about £8 each way and may be unfair because it is not always shown upfront.
- On Thursday, The CMA launched an investigation into Ryanair regarding fees parents must pay to sit with children aged 2–11, examining whether the "mandatory family seat" charge complies with consumer law.
- Specifically, the investigation relates to whether the contract term is "unfair" under consumer law, including whether the fee is "dripped" during booking to hide the total price from customers.
- This "mandatory family seat" typically costs around £8 each way, and The CMA is examining whether this forces parents to pay for the airline to meet its own child safety and disability obligations under aviation rules.
- Ryanair stated that its policy "fully complies with all relevant laws," adding that adults pay one reserved seat fee but can select seats beside them for up to four children free of charge.
- Hayley Fletcher, Senior Director of Consumer Protection, stated that businesses failing to show total prices upfront face potential action from The CMA, while Ryanair added it "looks forward to disproving these false CMA claims.
122 Articles
122 Articles
Ryanair investigated over family seating fees
Europe’s largest low-cost airline is under investigation over its policy requiring families with young children to pay for seat reservations. UK regulators will examine whether the fees are unfair and whether they breach rules designed to prevent hidden charges.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Thursday that it is investigating Irish airline Ryanair over the fees parents pay to sit with their children aged 2 to 11. The carrier also has a policy that at least one parent must sit with them, charging them around £8 (roughly 225 crowns) per flight.
The British competition authority is launching an investigation into the Irish budget airline Ryanair over mandatory paid seat reservations for parents. While reserving a seat is optional for other travelers, it has been mandatory for parents with children aged 2 to 11 since 2016. These rules have been in place for ten years, but the British watchdog previously lacked the powers to challenge the paid reservations. Now that it has been granted mo…
While it requires at least one parent to sit next to a child on its flights, Ryanair is under investigation in the United Kingdom, because to meet this obligation, a seat would have to be reserved at extra cost.
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