Ryanair to be investigated over charging parents to sit with children

If you're travelling with children aged 2 to 11 on a Ryanair flight, it's compulsory for at least one adult in the group to pay for a seat reservation, which Ryanair calls a "mandatory family seat". This can cost between £4.50 and £13.50 per flight. You can then reserve seats for free for up to four children.

Regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which announced its probe on Thursday 11 June, said it will look at whether this approach to seat reservations "may mean parents are being charged for the airline to meet its child safety and disability‑related obligations as set out under aviation rules".

A Ryanair spokesperson said that the airline's family seating policy "fully complies with all relevant laws and regulations", adding: "Ryanair looks forward to disproving these false CMA claims during this bogus investigation."

CMA: Ryanair 'only major airline' to impose this charge

The regulator said its understanding is that Ryanair is "the only major airline flying out of the UK to impose this charge", with other airlines offering to seat children with a parent or guardian without the need for a paid-for adult seat reservation, or allocating seats together automatically fore free during booking (see our How to sit together for free guide for more info and tips).

The CMA will also examine whether the mandatory family seat fee is an example of 'drip pricing'. This is where you're shown an initial price but extra fees are added later in the booking process – a practice that was banned in April 2025.

However, this is only the beginning of the investigation, and the regulator stressed that it hasn't yet reached any conclusions about whether Ryanair has broken the law.

What happens next depends on the evidence – if the CMA finds consumer law has been breached, it could try to secure commitments from the airline to address this, or take court action. The CMA says it expects to provide an update "within six months".