Ryanair Fee Investigation
CMA Investigates Ryanair Over Mandatory Child Seat Fees, Citing Unfair Charges for Families
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Key Points
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CMA senior director of consumer protection Hayley Fletcher said the investigation is focused on how charges are presented, warning that “extra charges can quickly bump up the price,” potentially undermining consumers who have “save[d] up” for a holiday.
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While CMA says the “mandatory family seat” is effectively reserved for a fee, Ryanair’s own website branding is described as “Free reserved seats for kids under 12”—even though parents and guardians still must pay a booking fee to access those seats.
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The seat-reservation price charged for the “mandatory family seat” can vary widely: reservations are reported to cost between €4.50 and €13.50 (about £4–£12), with a “typical” charge around £8 each way.
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The CMA described the consumer-law “unfair terms” test as assessing whether contract wording “tilts the balance of rights and responsibilities in the contract too much in favour of the business,” adding that unfair terms “are not legally binding on customers,” and the CMA can take enforcement action to stop businesses using them.
Britain's competition watchdog has opened a formal investigation into Ryanair over fees the airline charges parents to sit next to their children on flights. The Guardian reported that the Competition and Markets Authority launched Case 51525 on June 10, 2026, targeting a roughly £8-per-way charge applied across most UK routes when adults travel with children aged 2 to 11.
The CMA suspects the fee may be an unfair contract term and an example of illegal "drip" pricing — where unavoidable costs are added during booking rather than shown upfront. Ryanair hit back immediately, calling the probe "bogus" and a political distraction, according to The Independent.
How the "Mandatory Family Seat" Fee Actually Works
Ryanair's own website calls the service "Free reserved seats for kids under 12." But there is a catch. At least one adult in the group must pay for a reserved seat before children can be assigned seats nearby, according to The Independent. The adult fee ranges from €4.50 to €13.50 — roughly £4 to £12 — depending on the route. A typical charge runs about £8 each way.
Once that adult pays, up to four children can sit with them at no extra child charge. Ryanair says this makes its model cheaper than rivals. The CMA disagrees. It says the adult fee is unavoidable, making the "free" children's seats a misleading description. No other large UK airline imposes this type of charge, according to The Guardian.
Drip Pricing Law and the Unfair Contract Terms Test
The investigation rests on two legal concerns. First, the CMA is assessing whether the fee counts as illegal "drip" pricing under the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which came into force in April 2025. Drip pricing means adding unavoidable costs during booking rather than displaying the full price at the start, according to Investing.com.
Second, the CMA is testing whether Ryanair's contract terms are unfair. A term is unfair if it "tilts the balance of rights and responsibilities in the contract too much in favour of the business," the regulator said. Unfair terms are not legally binding on customers. The CMA can go to court to stop a business from using them and can now also issue significant fines under its new 2024 powers, according to City AM.
CMA: Parents May Be Paying for the Airline's Own Safety Duties
The regulator raised a sharper concern: parents may be paying Ryanair to meet the airline's own safety and disability-related obligations. Senior Director of Consumer Protection Hayley Fletcher said "extra charges can quickly bump up the price" for families who have saved up for a holiday. She warned businesses that do not show full prices upfront face "the very real possibility of action," according to GOV.UK.
The CMA also pointed to an important precedent. Ryanair does not apply the fee on flights to and from Italy, following intervention by Italy's civil aviation regulator ENAC, according to The Straits Times. That suggests the airline is capable of dropping the charge when regulators require it.
Ryanair Fires Back, Blames Government Over Air Passenger Duty
Ryanair did not accept the CMA's framing. A spokesperson called the investigation a "failed effort by the Starmer Government to pretend it cares about consumers," according to The Independent. The airline argued its policy fully complies with all relevant laws and actually saves families money compared with rivals' seat-pricing structures.
Ryanair shifted part of the debate toward Air Passenger Duty, arguing that if the government truly wanted to cut holiday costs, it would abolish the tax rather than pursue what it called a bogus probe, according to The Guardian. The CMA's next scheduled case update is December 2026, after an information-gathering phase. If the watchdog finds against Ryanair, a typical family of four could save £16 to £32 per return trip.
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