Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority launched a formal investigation into Ryanair on Thursday over charges that require parents to pay a seat reservation fee to sit alongside their young children on flights. The inquiry focuses on the airline’s “mandatory family seat” charge, which typically costs around £8 ($10.70) each way. The probe was announced in London on June 11, 2026.
Under Ryanair’s current policy, at least one parent must sit with children aged two to 11 during a flight — but that requirement means they must pay for what the airline calls a “mandatory family seat.” For other passengers, reserving a seat is optional.
The CMA said it is examining whether the charge may be forcing parents to pay for the airline to meet its own child safety and disability obligations under aviation rules. The watchdog is also looking at whether the fee appears as a surprise cost during booking rather than being included in the headline price shown to customers from the start.
The CMA said its investigation relates specifically to whether Ryanair’s contract term is “unfair” under consumer law, adding that it has only started the probe and has not reached a conclusion about whether or not Ryanair has broken the law.
Ryanair rejected the investigation in sharp terms. “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,” the company said in a statement. “Ryanair looks forward to disproving these false CMA claims during this bogus investigation,” it added.
The airline also maintained that its broader policy is compliant. “Ryanair’s family seating policy fully complies with all relevant laws and regulations,” the airline said in an emailed statement. It said the policy saves families money when travelling.
The CMA’s senior director of consumer protection, Hayley Fletcher, framed the investigation around the financial pressure families face when booking summer travel. “Our investigation will consider Ryanair’s approach to family seat reservations and how the cost is presented to consumers to determine whether they comply with consumer law,” she said.
The CMA said it understands that Ryanair is the only major airline flying out of the UK to impose this charge. Other airlines offer to seat children with a parent or guardian without the need for a paid-for adult seat reservation, or allocate seats together automatically during booking for free. That finding positions Ryanair as an outlier among UK-operating carriers, not an industry-wide practice.
The investigation sits within a broader CMA push on consumer fairness. The watchdog said the probe forms part of its wider work to help ease cost-of-living pressures and protect vulnerable consumers. The CMA has in recent months increased scrutiny of pricing practices in sectors including utilities, online retail, and travel.
Infringing on consumer protection laws can lead to fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s global revenue. Ryanair reported net revenues of approximately €13.4 billion in its 2024–25 financial year, according to the company’s published accounts, meaning a maximum fine — if violations were found — could run into the hundreds of millions of pounds. The CMA has not indicated it is seeking such a penalty, and no fine has been proposed at this stage.
The “drip pricing” concern raised by the CMA — where additional mandatory fees are added during a booking process after an initial low price is advertised — has become a recurring point of contention in European aviation regulation. Several airlines across the continent have faced complaints from national consumer agencies over how seat reservation and baggage charges are disclosed. A Brussels court ruling earlier this year upheld some consumer complaints against Ryanair but deemed the child seating charge itself lawful, according to reporting by exyuaviation.com, illustrating the varied outcomes regulators have reached on similar questions.
Ryanair carries a significant portion of UK short-haul traffic. The airline transported 184 million passengers in 2024–25, with the United Kingdom accounting for 14.6 per cent of net sales. A finding against the airline could require it to restructure how the family seat fee is presented or charged — or to remove it entirely for UK-departing flights.
Background
Ryanair introduced mandatory seat reservation requirements for adults travelling with children under 12 several years ago, following complaints that families were being separated on board when seats were randomly assigned. The airline argued the policy resolved a safety and boarding problem. Under the current structure, at least one adult travelling with children aged two to 11 must pay the mandatory family seat fee; up to four children on the same booking are then seated beside that adult at no additional charge. The CMA is a non-ministerial government department responsible for promoting competition and protecting consumers across UK markets. It has authority to investigate and litigate under both competition and consumer protection law.
What Happens Next
The CMA said it expects to provide an update on the investigation within six months. The regulator will assess both the fairness of the contract term itself and whether the fee is being disclosed to consumers at the correct point in the booking journey. If the CMA concludes Ryanair has breached consumer law, it can seek enforcement action through the courts or negotiate a formal undertaking from the airline to change its practices. Ryanair has stated it intends to contest the investigation and defend its current policy throughout the process.
