Ryanair stops charging parents to sit with children

A company announced that, for reservations made from today, adults travelling with children and not intending to pay for the choice of place will receive the assignment of their seats free of charge after making the check-in of the flight, as happens on most european airlines.

Ryanair warned that, in these cases, families would be more likely to be placed on the back of the plane, as “front lines usually run out first”.

Until now, the company has demanded that adults travelling with minors between the ages of 2 and 11 pay for the reservation of at least one place, designated by the company as “compulsory family place”, to ensure that children are seated with them, without offering the possibility of free allocation of adjacent places.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation earlier this month to determine whether this collection of around 8 pounds (9.3 euros) per route could constitute an abusive clause under British consumer protection legislation and whether it in practice represented charging parents for compliance with their child safety obligations, the EFE recalled.

With the new policy, families will continue to have the option of paying for the choice of seats to select the location they prefer on the plane, while those who waive this option will receive an automatic assignment of seats after the check-in.

Ryanair’s executive president, Michael O’Leary, accused the CMA of being “committed” to forcing the airline to adopt a “less transparent and less consumer-friendly” seat policy, simply because it is the one applied by most companies.

“ We will adapt, albeit reluctantly, to the industry standard,” O’Leary said in the press release, adding that he does not want to “lose time” trying to explain to “completely deceived” regulators what “is best for consumers.”.