Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, is facing a fresh headache after competition regulators opened an investigation into the charges families pay to sit together.
The probe will examine whether the airline’s controversial seating fees unfairly penalise parents and children.
The UK-based Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says Ryanair’s terms and conditions require at least one parent to sit next to their child - including those with disabilities - and charges them, on average, about £8 (€9.25) a flight to do it.
The watchdog is looking into whether the policy is unfair under consumer law, and says the Irish carrier is the only sizeable airline which flies out of the UK to impose such a charge.
In response, Ryanair called the investigation “bogus” and said it would be “disproving these false CMA claims”.
