In an attempt to increase passenger numbers Ryanair have announced that they will be allocating seating on all flights from February 2014. The company made the announcement earlier today and are hoping that the move will lead to smoother boarding and mean that groups and families will be able to sit together when using the airline. It is a welcome change because in the past groups who wanted seats together would have to queue up at check in order to be seated together. This did not always guarantee that this would happen so the move to allocate seats will be welcomed by passengers.

Passengers who check in more than 24 hours before their departure time can now select what seats they want for an additional €5 fee and those who choose not to will have their seats allocated for them. Ryanair have said that the decision to return to allocated seating was due to responses and feedback that the company received when it carried out surveys recently.

The company has also announced that profits are expected to fall this year for the first time in five years.  Shareholders had been told that this year’s profits would range between €570 and €600 million, but that figure is more likely to be around €500 million. The reasons for the decline in profits are largely due to the weakening of the Sterling, the summer heatwave in Europe and the French ATC strike in the past six months.  In a statement about this issue the company said that “The continuing fare and yield softness means that full year profits will be lower than previously guided (€570m to €600m). We now expect the full year outturn to be between €500m to €520m due entirely to this lower fare environment. ”