UK plans to stop airlines charging parents to sit beside children

UK airlines would have to seat children under 14 beside a parent or accompanying adult without an extra charge under government plans reported on 1 October 2026. The proposed change, which has not taken effect, would also end fees for correcting mistakes in passengers’ booking names. For families booking flights, the distinction matters: the announced intention is not yet a right they can rely on when buying a ticket.

The Guardian reported that ministers hope to introduce the changes before the start of the 2027 summer holidays. That is a reported aim, not a confirmed commencement date. The report did not set out final regulatory wording or say precisely how the free seating and name-correction rules would operate in every booking situation.

What the family seating proposal would cover

The seating measure would apply to passengers aged under 14 travelling with a parent or another accompanying adult, according to the Guardian. Airlines would have to place them next to that adult without charging extra for the arrangement. The report also says a passenger would be able to correct a mistake in the name on a flight booking without paying a fee.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham described charging parents to sit with their children as a ‘rip-off’ and framed the measures as a response to the ‘little charges that add up’ when families arrange holidays, the Guardian reported. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, told the paper that making parents pay to sit with children as young as three was unfair. Those comments address a cost families can face now; they do not mean the proposed ban is already in force.

How the aviation bill fits into the plan

The plans sit alongside the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, which is moving through Parliament. The Guardian says the bill would give ministers flexible powers to set passenger rights and duties for airlines and airports. Parliament’s bill page identifies the Department for Transport as a sponsoring department and shows the bill proceeding through Commons stages.

Parliament lists the current bill version as brought from the Lords on 21 July 2026. Its published long title covers protection for purchasers and users of air transport and airport services, as well as other aviation matters. Passage of a bill and the introduction of specific seating or booking rules are separate steps, so the reported holiday timetable remains an intention rather than a fixed date for passengers.

What the Ryanair inquiry shows about existing charges

Family seating charges were already under scrutiny before this wider proposal. In June, the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into Ryanair’s mandatory family seat. The regulator said Ryanair’s terms required at least one adult travelling with a child aged two to 11 to reserve a seat, typically costing about £8 each way, so that the child could be allocated a seat next to or near that adult.

The CMA said it was examining whether that arrangement made parents pay for Ryanair to meet child-safety and disability-related obligations, whether the contract term was unfair, and how the charge appeared during booking. At the launch of its inquiry, the regulator said it had reached no conclusion that Ryanair had broken the law. Its investigation concerned that airline’s existing practice, while the new government plan would set a broader seating requirement.

At the time of its June announcement, the CMA said it understood Ryanair to be the only major airline flying from the UK that imposed this particular mandatory charge. It said other airlines seated children with a parent without requiring a paid adult reservation, or allocated seats together for free during booking. Those differences help explain why a general rule could affect carriers differently.

The Guardian reported that Ryanair changed its family seating policy after the CMA inquiry began. Under the policy described by the paper, parents could still pay to choose a seat and have their children seated alongside them without an additional charge. The proposed government rule addresses the underlying question of whether a family should have to pay extra simply to sit together.