Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, investigated for charging parents to sit with their children

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

(CNN) — Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, is under investigation by the UK’s competition watchdog over charges it imposes on families with young children to sit together.

Paying for a specific seat is optional on Ryanair flights, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), unless travelling with a child aged between two and 11 who must be accompanied by at least one parent.

In order to ensure parents sit with their children, they have to pay for a “mandatory family seat,” which applies for both outbound and inbound journeys and typically costs around £8 ($11) per flight.

The CMA said Thursday that it’s investigating “suspected infringements of consumer law in relation to Ryanair’s use of a potentially unfair mandatory fee.”

Ryanair called the investigation “bogus” and said that its seating policy “fully complies with all relevant laws.”

In a press release Thursday, the CMA said it believes the policy “is used across the majority of Ryanair’s UK routes.” The airline’s website, the CMA says, offers “free reserved seats for kids under 12” but says accompanying adults must pay for a seat in order to secure a place next to them.

The investigation has been launched to determine whether the practice is “unfair” under consumer law. The CMA said it “understands” that Ryanair is the only one flying out of the UK to “impose” such a fee, according to the press release.

In an email sent to CNN Thursday, a Ryanair spokesperson described the action as a “bogus investigation.”

They said the airline’s seating policy “fully complies with all relevant laws and regulations,” adding that the company does not charge “any fee for children to sit beside their parent or accompanying adult.”

The statement continued: “Like all adults who select a reserved seat, adults travelling with children pay one reserved seat fee, but can select reserved seats beside them for up to 4 children on the same booking FREE OF CHARGE. This means that parents travelling with children pay for only one (adult) reserved seat but pay nothing for the 4 other reserved seats for their children travelling with them.”

“Ryanair looks forward to disproving these false CMA claims during this bogus investigation,” the statement said.

The CMA said the investigation had only just begun and that no conclusion had been reached as to whether Ryanair has broken the law. It expects to report back within six months. The investigation is part of a broader intention by the CMA to ease the impact of cost of living pressures in Britain.

Hayley Fletcher, senior director of consumer protection at the CMA, said in the release: “Lots of families save up to afford a summer holiday and we know that extra charges can quickly bump up the price.

“Our investigation will consider Ryanair’s approach to family seat reservations and how the cost is presented to consumers to determine whether they comply with consumer law.

“For the past year, we’ve told businesses to ensure their customers are shown the total price upfront – those who don’t face the very real possibility of action from the CMA.”

If the company is found to have infringed consumer protection law, the CMA will have the power to fine it up to 10% of its global turnover.

This is not the first time Ryanair has been challenged over its family seating policy. In 2024, the company lost an appeal against a ban on airlines charging extra to sit with children under 12 or disabled passengers, Reuters reported at the time.

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