Ryanair has changed its family seating policy so that parents can sit with young children without paying a seat reservation fee, following a UK investigation into the practice.
Adults travelling with children who do not want to pay for reserved seats will now be told their free seat allocation after check-in, rather than at the time of booking. The change applies to bookings from Thursday, 25 June 2026.
The airline said the move puts it in line with most other European carriers. It said it does not expect any impact on revenue from the change.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began investigating whether Ryanair‘s policy was unfair under consumer law earlier this month. The regulator was examining a contract term requiring an adult travelling with a child to pay for a mandatory family seat in order to sit next to them, and whether that fee was properly included in the total flight price.
Under the previous system, adults travelling with children paid for one reserved seat, then could select seats beside them for up to four children free of charge. The CMA said that typically meant a fee of £8 each way.
Ryanair said the older policy gave families certainty over where they would sit at the time of booking, which it said passengers had valued. Under the revised policy, free parent seats will now be placed at the back of the aircraft, because front rows tend to be reserved by paying customers.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline would “reluctantly adjust to this industry standard”, insisting the long-standing policy fully complied with the law and had given families certainty. He said the new approach aligns with the “less transparent and less consumer-friendly family seating policy applied by most other airlines”.
O’Leary also criticised the regulator, accusing European watchdogs including the CMA of having “consistently failed consumers” by ignoring issues such as unauthorised ticket reselling, airport monopoly overcharging and air traffic control service failures.
The change follows concerns raised by consumer group Which? about Ryanair‘s family seating charges. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said it should never have required Which? to report the policy to the CMA to prompt action on what he called “unjustified charges”.
“It was never fair to charge parents to sit next to children as young as three,” Boland said. “It is clear Ryanair is unhappy about being dragged into doing the right thing, so Which? will be monitoring the implications of this policy and whether all parents are seated next to their children without charge over the next few months.”
The CMA said Ryanair is not forced to seat non-paying families at the back of the aircraft, and is doing so at its own discretion. The regulator added that its investigation remains ongoing, noting that the policy change does not erase the fact that families have been paying for mandatory family seats in the past.
The CMA’s inquiry is being closely watched across the airline industry, with the regulator suggesting it may not be the last such investigation into seating practices in the travel sector. Many other carriers either seat children next to a parent or guardian without charge, or automatically allocate seats together during booking.
The policy shift comes shortly after Ryanair extended O’Leary‘s contract by 6 years, a deal that could see him awarded up to 10 million additional shares.
For travellers, the immediate change means parents flying with young children should no longer need to pay extra simply to sit together. However, the airline’s decision to assign free seats only after check in means some families may have less certainty over where they will be placed than under the previous paid reservation system.
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