By air, minors and disabled persons at no extra cost for the accompanying person

Rejected Ryanair's appeal on extra costs in aeroplanes for seats for those accompanying minors and the disabled. The Council of State gives reason to the National Civil Aviation Authority, confirming the measure with which Enac banned, for safety reasons, the request for extra costs by airlines for the booking by accompanying persons of seats next to passengers under 12 years of age and disabled passengers. The administrative judges rejected the appeal lodged by Ryanair against the Lazio Regional Administrative Court's November 2022 ruling that had proved Enac right on compliance with safety standards and passenger rights. According to the low-cost company's argument, Community legislation would not provide for any obligation under which the proximity between minor and accompanying person must be free of charge. The tariff aspects would be left, by European legislation in the sector, to the free entrepreneurial choice of air carriers, in compliance with Article 22 of EC Regulation 1008/2008.

In a note, Enac states that the Council of State has, instead, accepted Enac's argument according to which the safety ensured by the proximity of the accompanying person cannot be considered an extra service that can only be enjoyed through the payment of an additional cost. The ruling states that the need for contiguity of seats between minor and accompanying person is connected to the carrier's safety obligation and cannot be conditioned by the payment of supplements. "We welcome with satisfaction the Council of State's pronouncement - comments Enac president Pierluigi Di Palma - which confirms a measure strongly supported by me and director general Alessio Quaranta, in July 2021, with which we imposed on airlines the free allocation of seats to minors and persons with reduced mobility next to their parents and/or accompanying persons. The right to mobility must be guaranteed for everyone, no one excluded'.

The company intervened in the case with the following official statement: "Ryanair does not charge any fares for children under the age of 12 travelling with an adult. The Council of State's ruling does not require any changes to Ryanair's current policy on family seats".