London, United Kingdom: The UK government has announced plans to remove charges for parents travelling with children, allow free correction of simple booking errors and introduce a new system to tackle persistently disruptive airline passengers.
The Department for Transport first published the announcement on 1 October 2026, with the page updated on 2 October. Under the proposed reforms, airlines will be required to seat children under 14 with a parent or accompanying adult without an additional seat-selection charge. The government said a parent and child can currently face costs of up to £104 on a return journey to sit together.
Passengers will also be given greater flexibility to correct simple name mistakes on flight bookings without paying an administration fee. The government said such charges can currently reach £40 for minor errors or booking amendments.
Alongside the changes to passenger charges, the government said it is working with airlines and trade unions on a new information-sharing system covering persistently disruptive passengers. More than 1,000 serious disruptive passenger incidents were recorded by airlines in 2025, including a mid-air brawl that resulted in a flight diversion.
The proposed system is intended to help airlines identify repeat offenders and allow them to consider extending passenger bans. The government said the measures would improve consistency across airlines operating in the UK, although it noted that most UK airlines already provide some protections against hidden costs.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Charging 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,” Burnham said, describing the measures as part of his government’s “everyday fixes” programme.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Parents should not have to feel the pinch just to sit next to their child on a flight, or for amending a simple booking error.”
She added that the reforms would protect passengers from unnecessary charges and help make flying safer for staff and travellers.
The reforms are linked to the Civil Aviation Bill and are set to be delivered following Royal Assent. The government has said industry will be engaged to support implementation.
The official government page was updated on 2 October to remove a previously stated date for airlines to apply the measures, after the government identified that date as an error. The new requirements therefore should not be treated as already in force.
The government said the changes would also bring UK and EU passenger-rights rules into closer alignment, giving passengers greater consistency when travelling with airlines operating in the UK.
