Italy's competition regulator has opened a probe into Ryanair over a possible abuse of dominant position that caused "serious and irreparable" damages to travel agencies, other airlines and passengers, Italy's Il Messaggero newspaper reported today.
The authority claimed Ryanair did not allow physical and online tour operators to access its offers and discounts on its website on several occasions, the newspaper said, reporting in advance a decision by the regulator that is expected to be published later on Monday.
Ryanair - the market leader in Italy and Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers - will have eight days to reply, with the airline's representatives likely to meet the regulator's members on April 18, Il Messaggero reported.
Should Ryanair's arguments not convince the watchdog, it will have to remove all obstacles posed to agencies, the newspaper added.
The carrier is looking to build on its market-leading position in Italy if more airport slots become available as a result of a potential tie-up between ITA Airways and Lufthansa, with a particular interest in Rome's Fiumicino hub, it, said earlier this year.
In a statement today, Ryanair called upon the AGCM to explain why it has allowed itself to be "misled" by online travel agents "pirates" and why it has ignored the recent ruling of the Milan Court of Appeal, which dismissed the false claims of OTA pirates and ruled that the airline's direct sales policy was "reasonable" and led to lower costs and lower fares for Italian consumers.
"The AGCM complaint shows that they allowed themselves to be misled by false claims from OTA Pirates, such as eDreams, particularly when these claims contradict the pro-consumer January 2024 Milan Court of Appeal ruling," Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's group chief executive said.
"The Milan Court of Appeal's ruling dismissed these false OTA Pirate claims and ruled that Ryanair’s direct online sales policy is 'reasonable' and leads to lower costs and lower fares for Italian consumers, whereas unauthorised OTA Pirates like eDreams, continue to scam Italian passengers with hidden mark-ups and inflated prices for Ryanair services as shown above," Michael O'Leary said.
"The Milan Court also ruled that Ryanair "undoubtfully benefits consumers", which clearly disproves this AGCM case," he added.
