New Government plans will see UK-operating airlines required to scrap child seating fees and ‘unnecessary admin costs’ in an effort to ease pressure on the cost of living.
Airlines will soon be required to seat children under the age of 14 with a parent or accompanying adult free of charge, eliminating charges that can currently run up to 104 GBP for a return journey.
Passengers will also be given more flexibility to correct name errors on bookings for free in a bid to end ‘unfair and irritating’ charges – which can cost as much as 40 GBP – for minor mistakes or admin tweaks.
Elsewhere, the Government has announced it has begun working with both airlines and trade unions to create a new system for sharing information on persistently disruptive passengers. In 2025, reports show that over 1,000 serious disruptive passenger incidents were logged by airlines, causing disruption to passengers, crew and airlines themselves.
A new system will seek to make disruptors ‘easier to spot’ in order to keep staff and passengers safe, as well as enable airlines to take decisions on whether to extend a full ban on their airline.
PrimeCharging parents just to sit with their children is a rip-off, plain and simple. And being hit with a hefty fee for a simple spelling mistake on a booking form isn’t right either.
People are fed up with these little charges that add up, so I’m putting a stop to them.
This is what our everyday fixes are all about. Giving people room to breathe by tackling the small irritations that catch people out, waste their time and cost them money.
The newly-announced changes are intended to bring consistency across the aviation sector, and are set to be delivered following Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Bill. The move also comes after regulators and lawmakers in the UK and Europe take a tougher stance on air passenger rights, with the Government’s changes mirroring existing EU rules.
