Italy fines Ryanair 256 million euros for abusing market dominance!

The Italian competition authority has fined Ryanair 256 million euros for abusing its dominant market position to limit ticket sales by online travel agents.

The authority said Europe's largest airline "implemented an abusive strategy to thwart travel agents" through a "complex strategy" of technical barriers for agents and passengers.

It aimed to make it harder for online travel agents to sell tickets for the benefit of its website.

The fine, the Guardian reports, concerned Ryanair's practices between April 2023 and at least until April 2025. Ryanair's immediate removal from agency websites at the end of 2023 caused a drop in the airline's sales, which in turn hit profits, but not to the point of dramatically affecting them.

Ryanair's practices included implementing facial recognition procedures for people purchasing tickets through third parties, claiming this was necessary for security reasons.

It then “completely or intermittently blocked booking attempts by travel agents,” including blocking payment methods and mass deletion of accounts.

The airline then “imposed partnership agreements” on agents that prohibited Ryanair sales in conjunction with other airlines. Only this April, Ryanair took measures that allow competition.

Ryanair said it would immediately appeal the Italian authority's decision, which it described as "legally incorrect".

Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, had decided to declare war on "pirate" online travel agents like Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak.

O'Leary accused the industry of defrauding and exploiting unsuspecting consumers by charging additional fees and ticket price increases.

He was even prepared to accept lower ticket sales while trying to prevent travel agents from selling tickets by forcing their passengers to fill out additional forms, ostensibly as a security measure.

The decision, he said, is "a violation of consumer protection and competition law."

Known for his aggressive – even abusive – statements, O'Leary plans to hand over control of the company to a successor within the next 5-10 years. He will receive shares worth €111 million if he stays at the airline until the end of July 2028. He was already a billionaire on paper because of his shares.

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