Windowless seats on Ryanair flights draw renewed online attention

A growing online conversation about Ryanair’s windowless seats has resurfaced after social-media posts showed travelers booking seats they believed would offer a view, only to encounter a wall next to them. In a TikTok clip that circulated this week, Roxana Mihaela, who posts under @roxanamihaela761, filmed a Ryanair flight and panned to the area beside seat 14F, where there was no window. The video’s caption reads: “POV: You book a window seat with Ryanair.” Viewers quickly noted that seats such as 14A and 11A are among those repeatedly identified as windowless, a pattern that has appeared in several posts over the past year. Mihaela later told the Daily Mail that the seat in question was 14F, and commenters correctly suggested that 14A or 14F are often the affected seats. The episode mirrors a broader, ongoing online conversation about what travelers should expect when selecting certain seats on Ryanair’s fleet.

Other posts have highlighted similar experiences. Andrea Giulia, posting under @.phaseone, shared a video last year showing a Ryanair flight with no window, captioning it in a POV format about booking the window seat only to find no window. Klaudia, using @klaudiaoliwiap, also drew attention to seat 11A in prior coverage, arguing that travelers are not warned about that seat’s lack of a window. These clips helped fuel a perception that windowless seats are an intentional, recurring feature rather than a rare anomaly.

Ryanair has defended the practice in the past, arguing that passengers are warned during the seat-booking process if a seat lacks a window. The airline has even addressed the topic in its own social-media communications, including a TikTok reply that acknowledged the issue and suggested that the onus lies with the passenger if they miss the warning at booking. For some travelers, the warning is clear; for others, it is missed in the flow of choosing a seat online or during the booking confirmation.

The technical explanation cited by airline and industry observers centers on how Boeing 737-800 cabins are built. The aircraft’s air-conditioning ducts help regulate temperature and airflow and are typically located near the landing-gear area. In Ryanair’s 737-800 configuration, those ducts are situated by seat 11A, which means there is insufficient space for a traditional window in that portion of the cabin. The same arrangement has led to an absence of windows in other nearby seats, including 12A, 12F, 14A and 14F, though seat availability and window status can vary by aircraft in service. This wiring and layout are cited by some aviation enthusiasts as the practical reason behind windowless seats rather than a deliberate design to frustrate flyers.

The windowless-seat topic has traveled beyond individual flights and into a broader global discussion about passenger experience on low-cost carriers. Posts from last year and this year show travelers worldwide sharing their experiences, comparing seat maps, and debating whether Ryanair’s warnings are sufficient or easy to overlook amid the booking process. Travel platforms and social networks have made it clear that strong consumer interest remains in how certain seats are marketed and disclosed, and in how customers can verify what they are purchasing before finalizing a reservation.

For flyers planning on Ryanair trips, the takeaway remains practical: review seat maps carefully during the booking flow, and be prepared for the possibility that a seat advertised as a window seat may, in fact, lack a window. Airline communications suggest that the caveat is explicit in the booking interface, and repeated online posts indicate that travelers who notice the warning in time can adjust their selections accordingly. As discussions continue across world-wide social networks, the windowless-seat question persists as one of travel’s more enduring quirks on budget flights.