Europe’s biggest airline Ryanair is facing an investigation from the UK’s consumer watchdog over the fees it charges parents to sit with their children on flights.
The UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched the investigation on Thursday, citing the airline’s “mandatory family seat” policy.
As part of Ryanair’s terms and conditions at least one parent is required to sit with their children on its flights if they are between the ages of two and 11. That parent must then pay about £8 ($15.30) each way for the “mandatory family seat” next to their child.
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That’s despite the fact reserving a seat is optional for all other child-free passengers.
In a statement, the CMA said its evidence suggests this approach to seating is used across the majority of Ryanair’s UK routes.
“The CMA is investigating whether Ryanair’s 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 – and will investigate to determine whether or not this practice is in line with consumer law,” it said.
“Specifically, its investigation relates to whether Ryanair’s contract term is ‘unfair’ under consumer law.
“Contract terms are unfair if they put customers at an unfair disadvantage.
“The law applies a fairness test that asks whether the wording tilts the balance of rights and responsibilities in the contract too much in favour of the business.”
The consumer watchdog also said that other airlines offered to seat children with a parent or guardian without charging them for a reservation or simply allocated seats together automatically during booking free of charge. In contrast Ryanair was the only major airline flying out of the UK to impose a “mandatory family seat” charge.
The CMA is also looking into whether Ryanair has adopted a practice of “dripping” – a term which refers to the addition of the mandatory family seat fee on as an extra charge in the booking process, as opposed to giving consumers the total price that they will pay for their flight from the outset.
“Under consumer law, businesses must show a total price that includes all unavoidable charges, rather than adding – or “dripping” – extra charges separately or later in the process,” the CMA statement said.
“This ensures consumers can effectively compare prices and understand the true cost of what they are buying.”
The CMA said its investigation on Ryanair’s mandatory family seat fee had only begun.
However, the watchdog’s senior director of consumer protection, Hayley Fletcher said the probe would look into how the cost is presented to consumers and whether Ryanair complies with consumer law in doing so.
“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,” she said.
The CMA’s Australian counterpart, the ACCC strictly prohibits “drip pricing” with airlines forced to clearly display the full, up-front costs of airfares, including any optional or unavoidable fees for seat selection, at the very beginning of the booking process.
Ryanair has issued a strongly worded response to the CMA investigation, which it called “bogus”.
It said that while adults travelling with children paid one reserved seat fee, they could still “select reserved seats beside them for up to four children on the same booking FREE OF CHARGE.
“This bogus CMA investigation is a failed effort by the Starmer Govt to pretend it cares about consumers when it has failed to abolish APD (Air Passenger Duty) which would immediately deliver lower fares for all consumers and growth for the UK aviation, tourism and wider economy.”
Ryanair, which has its headquarters in Dublin, was ranked Europe’s largest carrier from 2022 to 2025 based on the total amount of passengers which flew with it.
