Ryanair revises family seating policy following CMA investigation
Ryanair has revised its family seating policy after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated its practice of charging parents for sitting with their children, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
From Thursday, parents who do not select or pay for reserved seats will be assigned free seats after check-in. Families opting for this have been informed they are likely to be seated towards the back of the plane, as front-row seats are reserved and often sell out. Those who prefer to select their seats in advance can still do so for a fee.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was direct in his response to the regulatory pressure.
“We will reluctantly adjust to this industry standard as we don’t want to waste time explaining to misguided regulators how badly they misunderstand what is in the best interest of UK and Europe’s consumers,” he told reporters.
Two weeks ago, the CMA started investigating the budget airline over an £8 ($10) per-flight fee to determine if this policy constitutes an unfair contract term under consumer law.
“Under our revised family seating policy, families may have to wait until after they have checked in to find out their seat allocation and are more likely to be seated at the rear of the cabin but at least the CMA will be able to claim they have done something for consumers, but sadly most consumers won’t notice,” he added.
Ryanair stated that it “does not charge any fee for children to sit beside their parent or accompanying adult.”
“Like 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 four children on the same booking free of charge,” Ryanair added.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the airline industry’s profitability had halved amid disruptions in the Middle East and rising fuel costs.
