Ryanair adopts ‘free of charge’ family seating policy after watchdog investigation

Ryanair has changed its family seating policy, after Britain’s competition watchdog launched an investigation into the airline’s charges for parents to sit with their children. Europe’s largest airline said that as of Thursday, adults would be offered “free of charge” seats next to their children after they have checked in for their flight – but at the rear of the plane. All children on the booking will be allocated seats alongside them for no fee. Ryanair said it was a “minor policy tweak”, two weeks after it angrily described the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation as “bogus”. “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,” the carrier said. It added that families who prefer to pick their seats at the time of booking and secure front row seats can still do so by paying a seat reservation fee. Until now, Ryanair required parents travelling with children aged between two and 11 to pay to reserve what it referred to as a mandatory family seat, while up to four children can sit alongside them without a charge. This prompted the CMA to open an investigation to determine whether Ryanair’s policy at the time was “in line with consumer law”. It found that the fee for a mandatory family seat was typically about £8 each way. Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said the investigation was ‘misguided’. …