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Ryanair to make it mandatory for families to pre-book seats
Ryanair is to make it mandatory for adults travelling with children under 12 to purchase a reserved seat from September 1.
At least one adult in every booking with children under 12 must purchase a reserved seat at the time of booking, costing €4, but then all accompanying children will receive reserved seats free of charge.
Ryanair has decided to introduce this new stipulation after a busy summer, with high load factors, when many families did not pre-book seats.
The airline said this caused boarding issues as crews tried to re-seat customers with young children, sometimes having to displace passengers who had pre-booked.
"Ryanair’s crews cannot move customers who have already paid for their preferred seats simply to accommodate other customers who are travelling with young children, who declined to reserve their seats and chose to have their seats randomly allocated," it explained.
Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the move will prevent customers who have chosen to purchase a seat of their own from being displaced once onboard.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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