A few weeks back we highlighted how a change in Ryanair’s policies on minors flying with the airline had seen the plans of two separate travelling parties left up in the air.
In times past, in many cases, children over the age of 16 were able to accompany a child under the age of 16 on Ryanair flights across Europe without any fuss.
However, unknown to a couple of readers who contacted us, the rules changed – and now under-16s need to be accompanied by an adult, or they will not be able to fly with Ryanair.
The airline told us the change was implemented last September and was a result of rules in Spain and other countries mandating that children under the age of 16 had to be accompanied by someone over the age of 18.
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And that was that.
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At least, that was that until other readers started contacting us questioning what we had been told.
“This summer we went to Portugal, but my 14-year old went to Biarritz the week before for a French language camp,” wrote a reader called Paul.
“The option of me waiting in Dublin for him to return and then follow the family wasn’t a good one, so he flew out of Bilbao to Lisbon and then on a connecting flight to Faro. He was going to fly with TAP, so my wife rang them in advance to see what their minors policy was. Once you turn 12 you are not a minor with TAP, so he flew out of Spain and into Portugal on his own, and without any issue.”
We also heard from a reader called Brid who had a similar experience to the readers who contacted us to say unaccompanied under-16s were not allowed travel with Ryanair this summer.
“The same issue also happened to my son and his friend, travelling to France in June this year,” she said. “I hadn’t yet gotten around to making a complaint, but your article has saved me some time and likely fruitless effort.”
She says a “question though that wasn’t answered, and which they might more readily answer for you rather than us mere customers, was why their systems weren’t updated for the change in policy. The Ryanair booking systems will not allow a child under the age of 16 to be booked on their own, whereas they will allow them to be booked with an over-16 (which is still how their booking system defines an adult, and they don’t specify they must be over 18),” she writes.
“Furthermore, they allow (or at least, when my son and his friend travelled in June) an under-16 to be checked in with an over-16 but under-18. Surely resorting to ‘t’s and c’s’ [terms and conditions] defence is insufficient from a consumer perspective for such clear inconsistency between their policies and consumer systems. At best, it is completely misleading.”
We also heard from another reader, Aoibhe, who questioned what Ryanair told us about the timing of the policy change.
‘Our policy is that under-16s must be accompanied by over-18s. We previously allowed them to be accompanied by over-16s, but we suffered some cases where such U18s were denied entry into EU airports. We have to ensure that we avoid this risk’
— Ryanair statement
“I would question whether it’s accurate for Ryanair to maintain they changed their minor’s policy last September. We had a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old travel with Ryanair from Spain to Dublin on October 27th, 2024, and back on November 1st, 2024. It was all perfectly acceptable then. I can’t see Ryanair not rigidly enforcing any policy they conjure up.”
She said the “same two teenagers – who have not changed in age since then – could not fly to Dublin together this month due to the policy change. Thankfully, their mother was aware of the policy change,” she writes, asking how, in an AI age, “can a system let you make a booking that does not adhere to their policy?”
She also points out that Vueling Airlines “has no problem with a 15-year-old and 17-year-old travelling together, [and] I would question the accuracy of Ryanair saying that Spain is one of the countries where under-16s must be accompanied by an adult, as our friends have just come from Spain”.
She points out that her son travelled with Aer Lingus to Spain when he was 15 in the company of a 14-year-old in August 2023 and she “had to fill out a ‘Form Of Indemnity’ to absolve Aer Lingus of any liability. The form is for 12- to 15-year-olds. Are Ryanair maintaining that Vueling and Aer Lingus are breaking EU law?”
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We put these reader stories to Ryanair – and the response we received was typically robust.
“Our very sensible ‘minors’ policy was clearly set out in our July letter, and we don’t have time to waste dealing with stupid follow-up questions from your handful of readers,” the mail begins.
“Our policy is that under-16s must be accompanied by over-18s. We previously allowed them to be accompanied by over-16s, but we suffered some cases where such U18s were denied entry into EU airports. We have to ensure that we avoid this risk, which is the only reason we changed this policy. If your readers don’t accept this policy, then they should please feel free to fly with other airlines, who may operate a more lax minors travel policy.”
There was more.
“This policy affects tiny numbers of our 206m pax [passengers], since most parents go to great lengths to ensure that U16 children are accompanied by over-18s – usually their parents! We don’t block such bookings since many families book air travel on different bookings but on the same flight, and we don’t want to prevent such families travelling together.”
The email adds that this “minors policy was changed in September last year. [Aoibhe’s booking] was made on Sept 17th, before the policy change was made. Still, they should not have been allowed to travel on the Santander-to-Dublin flight. We cannot always catch all pax who break our rules, but if they are denied entry at an EU airport, it becomes their responsibility, not ours.”
The statement concludes by saying that “instead of whinging about our very sensible ‘minors’ travel policy, perhaps your handful of readers would simply ensure that an U16 child is accompanied by an over 18yo adult, or otherwise fly with another airline, who may operate a less sensible ‘minors’ travel policy, then we won’t have to waste our time, or yours, replying to such stupid follow-on queries”.
For the record – and for the avoidance of all doubt – we entirely accept Ryanair’s position on minors travelling, and it is entirely within its rights to set its own policies irrespective of what other airlines do. We entirely disagree, however, with its claim that the follow-up queries from our “handful of readers” were “stupid”.
We don’t consider the queries a waste of time either.
