Summary<\/p>\n
Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, is under investigation by the UK\u2019s competition watchdog over its family seating policy.
\n The Competition and Markets Authority is examining whether Ryanair’s mandatory seat fees for parents are unfair.
\n Ryanair denies wrongdoing and calls the investigation “bogus,” saying its policy complies with all laws.<\/p>\n
\n AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/p>\n
\n Ryanair<\/a>, Europe\u2019s biggest airline, is under investigation by the UK\u2019s competition watchdog over charges it imposes on families with young children to sit together.\n <\/p>\n \n 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.\n <\/p>\n \n In order to ensure parents sit with their children, they have to pay for a \u201cmandatory family seat,\u201d which applies for both outbound and inbound journeys and typically costs around \u00a38 ($11) per flight.\n <\/p>\n \n The CMA said Thursday that it\u2019s investigating \u201csuspected infringements of consumer law in relation to Ryanair\u2019s use of a potentially unfair mandatory fee.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Ryanair called the investigation \u201cbogus\u201d and said that its seating policy \u201cfully complies with all relevant laws.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In a press release Thursday, the CMA said it believes the policy \u201cis used across the majority of Ryanair\u2019s UK routes.\u201d The airline\u2019s website, the CMA says, offers \u201cfree reserved seats for kids under 12\u201d but says accompanying adults must pay for a seat in order to secure a place next to them.\n <\/p>\n \n The investigation has been launched to determine whether the practice is \u201cunfair\u201d under consumer law. The CMA said it \u201cunderstands\u201d that Ryanair is the only one flying out of the UK to \u201cimpose\u201d such a fee, according to the press release.\n <\/p>\n \n In an email sent to CNN Thursday, a Ryanair spokesperson described the action as a \u201cbogus investigation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n They said the airline\u2019s seating policy \u201cfully complies with all relevant laws and regulations,\u201d adding that the company does not charge \u201cany fee for children to sit beside their parent or accompanying adult.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The statement continued: \u201cLike 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.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cRyanair looks forward to disproving these false CMA claims during this bogus investigation,\u201d the statement said.\n <\/p>\n \n 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.\n <\/p>\n \n Hayley Fletcher, senior director of consumer protection at the CMA, said in the release: \u201cLots of families save up to afford a summer holiday and we know that extra charges can quickly bump up the price.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOur investigation will consider Ryanair\u2019s approach to family seat reservations and how the cost is presented to consumers to determine whether they comply with consumer law.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cFor the past year, we\u2019ve told businesses to ensure their customers are shown the total price upfront \u2013 those who don\u2019t face the very real possibility of action from the CMA.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n 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.\n <\/p>\n \n 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<\/a> reported at the time.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, is under investigation by the UK\u2019s competition watchdog over its family seating policy.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-497310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}