Ryanair loses legal battle over Italian ban on extra charge for seats near children

Ryanair lost a major legal battle over Italy´s ban on extra charges for seats near children and people with disabilities.

Italy´s ENAC (Civil Aviation Authority) argued that those accompanying children or people with special needs should not be subject to surcharges for choosing their seats.

Ryanair´s extra charge for seats near children

The low-cost Irish airline is known to charge extra for luggage and seats, as choosing your seat on the plane now costs between €22 and €30 on one-way flights alone. In 2021, Italian authorities issued a ban, restricting airlines from surcharging travellers for choosing their seats in the cases of accompanying children or people with disabilities.

Italy´s Civic Aviation Authority then emhpasised that Ryanair´s regulations of the extra fees violate safety measures, which all airlines must adhere to. In 2022, the Irish airline appealed against the ENAC´s ban and had lost but refused to make changes. Now, Ryanair has lost its appeal for the second time, again rejecting the court´s decision with the argument that the extra charges are necessary to cover the costs of managing and allocating plane seats.

Taken to Italy´s Council of State, the country´s highest court authority agreed with the ENAC and stated that “the need for proximity of the seats between minor and accompanying person is clearly connected with the safety obligation” of airlines, hence it should not be surcharged.

Ryanair, however, declared the ruling as inadequate and stated it will not take any action to change its current regulations, arguing that the court´s decision violates the airline´s commercial freedom and Ryanair already “does not charge any fee for children under 12 travelling with an adult.”

Extra charge for seats near children on other airlines

The popular airline EasyJet stated their regulations on travelling with children as; “If your child is older than two years or turns two while you are travelling, you will have to book a separate seat for them.” As well as, “Your infant can sit on your lap for a fee. You can also buy a seat for them if you feel they´d be more comfortable.”

Vueling Airline expressed; “The system always tries to keep passengers in the same booking together, but this is not always possible. If you haven´t chosen a seat and wish to sit next to your child, we advise you to check in online as early as possible.

In the US, there is a similar growing concern for regulations imposed on those travelling with children or people with special needs. The US Department of Transportation recently presented a draft bill targeting the prohibition of additional fees for families travelling with children up to 13 years of age, asking airlines to instead assign seats to families automatically.