Labour MP Jo Stevens has welcomed Labour’s plans to stop airlines charging parents extra to sit with their children and to remove fees for correcting simple name mistakes on flight bookings.
Stevens: ‘a rip-off, plain and simple’
The Labour MP for Cardiff East described charging parents to sit with their children as “a rip-off, plain and simple”.
The government announced the proposals on 2 October. Airlines would be required to seat children under 14 with a parent or accompanying adult without an additional charge.
Passengers would also receive greater flexibility to correct minor name errors for free. This concerns simple mistakes, rather than a general right to transfer a ticket to another traveller.
The Department for Transport said a parent and child could currently face seating charges of up to £104 on a return journey, while minor booking corrections could cost as much as £40.
Many airlines already provide free family seating and spelling corrections. The reforms are intended to make protections more consistent across airlines operating in the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority separately opened an investigation into Ryanair’s mandatory family seating charges in June. That investigation does not itself establish that the airline has broken consumer law.
When the changes take effect
The proposed protections are due to be delivered following Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Bill. Families should therefore not assume the announcement has already changed their booking rights.
For Stevens, the measures are practical steps towards reducing avoidable costs for families travelling together.
