Ryanair is to compel adults travelling with children younger than 12 to pay for an allocated seat.
The policy change comes into effect from 1 September.
Any adult flying with children under 12 will be obliged to buy a reserved seat which has been variously reported as between £4 and £8 (€4 and €8) per flight.
The children, however, will be given a reserved seat next to the purchased one for which no charge will be made, as will the other parent.
Ryanair said the change was to avoid “boarding issues” created by letting passengers receive a seat allocated randomly with the consequence that adults and children were split up.
As a result, cabin crew had to try to reseat those who had been separated. As more people pre-book seats in aircraft whose capacity is running at 94% full, this has become increasingly fraught.
Ryanair relies on speedy turn-around of flights. Any delay jeopardises the flight’s departure slot and this, in turn, could result in delays for following flights.
Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer, said the change would let families select seats when they book to ensure that they sit with their children. “This will also prevent other customers who have chosen to purchase a seat of their own from being displaced on board,” he said.
A company statement also said: “Ryanair’s crews cannot move customers who have already paid for their preferred seats simply to accommodate other customers who are travelling with young children, who declined to reserve their seats and chose to have their seats randomly allocated.”
Existing bookings, including flights scheduled from September onwards, are unaffected; seats will be allocated free to passengers who choose not to pay.
Ryanair introduced allocated seating, and attendant charges, in 2014.
