Rome (AFP) – Italy’s competition authority said on Tuesday it had fined low-cost airline Ryanair more than 255 million euros ($300 million) for allegedly abusing its dominant position to block travel agencies’ access to its services. Ryanair said in a statement that it would appeal the decision, calling it “bizarre” and “unsound”.
The move comes a day after the antitrust body fined US tech giant Apple 98 million euros, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the mobile app market. The AGCM said Irish carrier Ryanair used “an abusive strategy” that made it difficult for travel agencies to combine Ryanair flights with other services between 2023 and at least April 2025. The strategy “aimed to block, hinder, complicate or make it more expensive (economically or technically) for travel agencies to purchase Ryanair flights on the ryanair.com website…whether in combination with flights offered by other airlines or other travel and insurance services,” the AGCM said.
“These practices compromised the ability of agencies to purchase Ryanair flights and combine them with flights from other airlines and/or additional travel services, thereby reducing direct and indirect competition between agencies.” Ryanair is by far the biggest air carrier in Italy, with a market share of 31.7 percent according to Italy’s civil aviation agency — far ahead of Italian carrier ITA on 9.9 percent.
The company’s chief executive Michael O’Leary was quoted as saying that when Ryanair first started in 1985, 20 percent of ticket revenues went to travel agencies and distributors. He said Ryanair “has passed on these 20 percent cost savings in the form of the lowest air fares in Italy and Europe”. Italy fined Ryanair three million euros in 2019 for its policy of charging passengers for cabin baggage. The fine was eventually overturned by an administrative court.
© 2024 AFP
