The carrier says its existing rules already cover key protections, while ministers argue legislation will create consistent standards across airlines operating in the UK.
A Ryanair aircraft on an airport apron as the airline challenges proposed UK passenger-fee reforms covering family seating and booking corrections.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The UK government plans to require airlines to seat children under 14 with an accompanying adult free of charge and to allow free correction of simple name errors after the relevant legislation takes effect.
- Ryanair says its existing policies already provide free adjacent seating for children aged 2 to 11 in qualifying family bookings and allow limited name corrections without charge.
- The government says statutory rules are intended to create consistent protections across airlines operating in the UK, while acknowledging that most UK carriers already provide some safeguards against hidden costs.
- Ryanair also renewed criticism of Air Passenger Duty and proposed overnight visitor levies; official APD rates vary by destination band and children under 16 in the lowest class of travel are exempt.
(NEWS) LONDON, United Kingdom, 2026-Oct-02 — /Travel PR News/ — Ryanair has challenged the UK government’s plan to standardise family-seating and booking-correction protections across airlines, arguing that key elements of the package already reflect practices available to its passengers. The dispute puts a spotlight on the difference between rules already offered by individual carriers and the government’s push to make those protections consistent across airlines operating in the UK.
In an announcement updated on 2 October 2026, the Department for Transport said planned reforms would require airlines to seat children under 14 with a parent or accompanying adult free of charge and would give passengers greater flexibility to correct simple name errors without a fee. The government also said it is working with airlines and trade unions on a system for sharing information about persistently disruptive passengers.
The government’s own release acknowledges that most UK airlines already provide protections against some hidden costs, but says legislation is intended to create greater consistency across the sector. The changes are expected to be delivered following Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Bill; the government removed an earlier implementation date from its announcement after correcting an error.
Ryanair says its existing policies already cover key protections
In its 2 October response, Ryanair rejected the suggestion that the reforms would remove charges it currently imposes for the two issues highlighted by ministers. The airline said children under 12 can already sit with an accompanying adult without an additional child-seat charge and that minor booking corrections can already be made free within defined limits.
Ryanair’s published family seating rules say children aged 2 to 11 must sit next to an accompanying adult and can be seated next to that adult free of charge when the family uses random allocation. Its booking guidance also allows limited name corrections without charge, including corrections of up to three characters and, within specified time windows, the swapping of first and last names. These existing policies support Ryanair’s argument about its own practices, while the government proposal would extend a statutory standard to children under 14 and across airlines operating in the UK.
APD and the visitor levy widen the disagreement
Ryanair used the same statement to renew its criticism of UK aviation taxation. It highlighted the £15 Air Passenger Duty figure, but official HM Revenue & Customs rates show that £15 is the reduced Band A rate for short-haul journeys from 1 April 2026. The reduced domestic rate is £8, while reduced rates for longer Band B and Band C journeys are £102 and £106 respectively. HMRC also states that children under 16 travelling in the lowest class of travel are exempt from APD, so any family-of-four calculation depends on the ages and fare classes of the passengers and the destination band.
The airline also criticised the government’s decision to give mayors and local leaders in England powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy. The government announced the policy on 10 September, saying the levy would be optional locally and charged as a percentage of accommodation cost rather than as a flat fee. Ryanair opposes the measure and described the combination of aviation duty and a potential accommodation levy as an additional tax burden on visitors.
Ryanair further repeated its criticism of NATS leadership and called for chief executive Martin Rolfe to be removed following recent air traffic control disruptions. That demand is Ryanair’s stated position. For passengers, the practical distinction is that some airline-level protections already exist today, while the government’s proposed reforms are intended to create a common legal baseline once the relevant legislation is in force.
