UK and Spanish consumer groups claim that Ryanair is using an algorithm to separate passengers travelling together who refuse to pay extra

No one should be surprised by this behaviour. Unless and until people start boycotting this contemptible airline, they'll only get worse. Much worse.

Remember, this is the airline whose CEO was seriously looking into having passengers stand like on a crowded bus and who wants to charge for the use of the washrooms. I fully expect him to start charging a fee for the use of the seatbelts some day.

I would rather be trapped in an ISIS stronghold during an ebola outbreak suffering a 10.0 earthquake than be evacuated on a Ryanair flight.

and what do you really expect from Ryanair - champagne and caviar??????

"but the airline insists that it doesn’t employ a family-splitting algorithm." It's not based on family, it's based on whether you are buying the tickets at the same time. So technically, they are correct.

Crap airline anyway.

I am not employed in the airline industry but as a simple question: what mother would not buy the ticket for her three year old at the same time she purchased her own. And what kind of airline wants a 3 year old sitting alone with no parental supervision to be cared for say by the flight attendants. Its nothing but a money grab and I for one would be boycotting Ryan Air and any other airline for such nonsense.

It’s hard to imagine a more esoteric industry than the airline industry, pricing and client manipulation wise that is. And this always needs to be checked as best as possible. But when we as a society constantly demand the cheapest possibilities, I’m reminded of an old saying that has wisdom that I also admit not living by- you get what you pay for. Another wonderful story I heard was of a person whose grandparents had an expression- they were too poor to buy cheap. Interesting way to look at consumerism.

Disgusting.