If you fly with a child under 12 years old you have to sit next to them. UK suspects Ryanair of taking advantage
It is not mandatory but for Ryanair it is. At least for children between 2 and 11 years old, as indicated in their own reservation conditions. The Irish airline requires parents to travel, no matter what, in the seats next to their children when they are under 12 years old. An obligation that Ryanair, assures, is free. The United Kingdom is not so clear. What’s happening? That Ryanair requires minors under 11 years of age to travel accompanied by one of the parents in the adjacent seats, as they explain on their own website. This seat selection must be made during the reservation and does not entail any additional charge. But the United Kingdom is not so clear. And the body in charge of ensuring competition in the country assures that the company would be charging an average of about nine euros for reserving “family” seats. That is, it would charge because parents and children sit together even though the rules prevent them from doing so separately when the children are under 12 years old. What does Ryanair say? The Irish company assures that this does not happen and refers to its reservation conditions. When you make a reservation on a Ryanair flight you have the opportunity to choose a seat, but this comes with a cost. If you do not do so, the seat is assigned automatically. When a reservation is made with a child under 11 years of age, the platform enables the possibility of reserving up to four adjacent seats (up to three children per parent) completely free of charge. Yes, but. What the British organizations point out is that this does not always happen and that the Irish company is charging for the seats. And, really, there is something tricky in the information that Ryanair presents. The company itself indicates that the allocation of adjacent seats will be “in specific rows (depending on the aircraft)” and that there will be a charge for changing seats. There should be no problem there. However, it makes it clear that if there is no possibility of combining seats in these specific rows, the customer must make a reservation for a different flight. That is, if the company does not have space available in the usual rows where parents and child travel together, there are two options: reserve seats upon payment or change planes. The mess. What they are investigating in the United Kingdom is whether the company can charge for seats when traveling with children. There, at this rate the company calls it “mandatory family seat” and may be enough to fine the company for applying an abusive rate. For its part, Ryanair defends itself by ensuring that the parent does have to pay for seat selection but that this does not apply to the four adjacent seats in which they can seat their children. That is, the adult would be paying but not the child and the company ensures that, in this way, the country’s legislation would not be breached. And in Spain? European regulations state that adults and children under 12 years of age must travel together and that the child seat must be offered free of charge whenever possible. To comply with regulations, airlines usually automatically generate a reservation with two adjacent seats in these cases, but they are not required to do so. That is, if the airline does not have two adjacent seats available on that flight, it will be mandatory to change them. But, in addition, the interpretation of the rule leaves open the possibility that, as is being studied with Ryanair in the United Kingdom, surcharges may be applied to the final price. one more fight. Ryanair has also taken advantage of the confrontation to ensure that all this controversy is only motivated because the country’s government wants to appear to protect travelers instead of lowering rates. Another open front for the company with a national government that, as happens in Spain, has open disputes with numerous European states in relation to the fees they must pay for providing their services at airports. Photo | Paul Hanoka and Nejc Soklič In Xataka | The Spanish Justice is unable to determine whether it is legal for Ryanair to charge for hand luggage. So he has already asked Europe for help
