Ryanair has revised its family seating policy following an investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority into fees charged for parents to sit with their children.

The airline announced that, effective Thursday, adults travelling with children will be offered adjacent seats free of charge after completing check-in, although the seats will be located toward the rear of the aircraft.

Children included in the booking will automatically be seated next to the accompanying adult at no additional cost.

Ryanair described the change as a “minor policy adjustment”, coming just two weeks after it dismissed the CMA’s probe as “bogus”.

“Families opting for this random allocation of seats beside each other are likely to be seated towards the rear of the aircraft cabin, as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first,” the carrier said.

It added that families who prefer to pick their seats at the time of booking and secure front row seats can still do so by paying a seat reservation fee.

Until now, Ryanair required parents travelling with children aged between two and 11 to pay to reserve what it referred to as a mandatory family seat, while up to four children can sit alongside them without a charge.

This prompted the CMA to open an investigation to determine whether Ryanair’s policy at the time was “in line with consumer law”. It found that the fee for a mandatory family seat was typically about £8 each way.