Budget airline announces huge seating change for families flying together

Ryanair has announced a seating-policy shift for families traveling together on future bookings, affecting where parents can sit relative to their children. The change applies to all bookings made from June 25 and will provide parents traveling with children who do not pay for reserved seats with free seat allocations only after check-in. Ryanair said the grouped seats for those families are likely to be toward the rear of the aircraft, while front-row seating will remain available for families willing to pay a reservation fee during booking. In its previous policy, parents could pay for a discounted reserved seat, securing up to four free reserved seats for accompanying children. Ryanair stated the change will be revenue-neutral and confirmed it does not charge for children to sit next to an accompanying adult, but applies a reserved-seat fee to the adult passenger. CEO Michael O’Leary criticized regulators, arguing the adjustment brings Ryanair in line with other European carriers’ approach and that its family policy complies with applicable laws.