Airline Child-Fee Landscape Shifts After Ryanair’s Policy Change

On 11 July 2026 Ryanair announced it would no longer require parents traveling with children aged 2-11 to pay a “mandatory family seat” fee. The move follows a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation that deemed the charge potentially anti-competitive. Previously, the fee guaranteed adjacent seating but added a separate cost to the ticket price.

The Guardian

Airlines apply a patchwork of flat fees and percentage-based surcharges for child travellers. Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair charge a flat €32 (£28) fee per flight for lap infants, regardless of the adult fare. By contrast, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic add roughly 10 % of the adult ticket price. For an adult fare of £858.59 on a London-to-New York British Airways flight (17 July 2026), eleven extra charges raise the total by more than £500, while an infant fare of £30 climbs to £162.19 after nine additional fees. On a Wizz Air flight to Málaga, a parent paid £136.50 to secure seats next to two children aged 11 and 13—over a third of the children’s combined ticket price. Air New Zealand’s infant cost varies by routing, representing 15 % of the adult fare via Los Angeles but only 9.6 % when the return leg runs via Vancouver.

The Guardian

• “We don’t agree with that assertion … the small fee we charge for infants who sit on their parents’ laps is similar to that charged by many other airlines and reflects standard practice across the industry.” — Wizz Air

The Guardian

• “When passengers are travelling with children up to 14 years old, our booking system automatically assigns seats together for the child and one adult passenger. We cannot guarantee that the whole family will be seated together if they do not book seats together – this is clearly stated on the Wizz Air website.” — Wizz Air

The Guardian

• “Trying to work out the final cost has become incredibly complicated and frustrating.” — Rory Boland, editor, Which?

The Guardian

• “The idea that in-lap infants are charged more than a full adult because of some fixed fee they’ve arrived at, is clearly unfair.” — Rory Boland

The Guardian

The varied fee structures mean that a low-priced adult ticket can still result in a higher total cost for families, especially when multiple infant or child surcharges apply. Ryanair’s policy reversal may ease the burden for some travellers, but the broader industry practice of flat infant fees and numerous ancillary charges continues to generate confusion and higher expenses for parents across Europe and beyond.

The Guardian