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

Ryanair has revised its family seating policy following an investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, now offering adults free seats next to their children at the rear of the aircraft after check-in [1]. The change, effective Thursday, means families will no longer pay a mandatory fee to sit together. Instead, they will be allocated adjacent seats free of charge, though the carrier stated these are “likely to be seated towards the rear of the aircraft cabin, as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first” [1]. Families who wish to select specific seats, including those at the front, can still do so by paying a reservation fee [1]. The CMA had opened an investigation into whether the airline’s previous policy complied with consumer law, finding the mandatory family seat fee was typically about £8 each way [1]. The regulator also indicated it believed Ryanair was the only large airline operating from the UK to impose such a charge [1]. Ryanair is the largest airline in Europe by scheduled passengers carried and operates an ultra-low-cost business model that generates nearly one-third of its income from ancillary revenue, including fees for seat selection [2]. The company sold 208 million tickets in 2025 [2]. Its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, who owns approximately 4% of the company, frequently courts media controversy [2]. O’Leary criticized the CMA’s action, saying the regulator was “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” [1]. He added that under the revised policy, “families may have to wait until after they have checked in to find out their seat allocation and are more likely to be seated at the rear of the cabin but at least the CMA will be able to claim they have done something for consumers, but sadly most consumers won’t notice” [1]. Ryanair’s main low-cost rival, EasyJet, operates 321 aircraft and carried more than 69.7 million passengers in 2022, making it the second-largest budget airline in Europe by passenger numbers [3]. The CMA’s intervention in airline seating practices echoes broader regulatory scrutiny of ancillary fees across Europe. In Italy, the Italian Competition Authority enforces both national and European consumer protection laws and has the power to investigate commercial practices [4]. Ryanair itself has faced other high-profile regulatory and operational incidents, including the 2021 forced diversion of one of its flights by the Belarusian government, which led to EU directives halting European airlines from flying over Belarusian airspace [5]. Ryanair stated the seating policy adjustment would not affect its revenues [1].