Low-cost airline Ryanair has changed its policy on allocating seats to familiesafter the UK’s competition watchdog launched an investigation into charging for seats for parents who want to sit next to their children, reports Guardian.
After checking in for the flight, adults will now receive free seats next to their children, but generally in the back of the plane. Seats will also be assigned to children on the same reservation without additional payment. Passengers who want to select seats at the time of booking, for example in the front of the cabin, will still have to pay the seat reservation fee.
Ryanair describes the change as a “minor policy adjustment”. Just two weeks ago, the investigation by the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was called unfounded.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary strongly criticized the regulator’s decision. PHOTO: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Until now, any adult traveling with a child between the ages of two and eleven had to pay for a mandatory family seat reservation, while up to four children could sit next to them at no extra cost. As he states Guardianthe fee was usually around eight British pounds one way.
It was this practice that led the CMA to launch an investigation to determine whether Ryanair had complied with consumer protection laws. The regulator found that Ryanair was the only major airline flying from the UK to charge families such a fee.
CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary sharply criticized the regulator’s decision. He said that the current family seating policy was, in his opinion, “the most advanced and transparent in Europe”, and that the CMA, instead of encouraging competition and lower prices, is forcing the company to adopt less transparent practices used by other airlines.
O’Leary added that Ryanair would introduce the changes because it did not want to waste time explaining to regulators why it believed the previous arrangement was in the best interests of consumers. According to him, families will now have to wait for seat allocation until check-in for the flight, and it is also more likely that they will sit in the back of the plane.
Despite the changes, Ryanair claims that the new policy will not affect the company’s revenues, he reports Guardian.
