A Ryanair Boeing 737 pictured July 2018 landing at Dublin Airport, Ireland. On Tuesday, Italy’s antitrust regulator fined Ryanair more than $301 million for exploiting its market dominance to restrict online travel agencies from selling Ryanair tickets. File Photo by Aidan Crawley/EPA
Italy’s antitrust regulator fined Ryanair more than $300 million for exploiting its market dominance to restrict online travel agencies from selling Ryanair tickets.
On Tuesday, the authority accused Europe’s largest airline of using technical barriers to block travel agencies and online platforms from selling its tickets, calling it an “abusive strategy” designed to push customers to book directly through its website.
It accused the airline of blocking online travel agents from bundling its flights with other carriers and services, thereby reducing competition.
The authority said the fine covers Ryanair’s actions from April 2023 through at least April 2025. It ruled that Ryanair abused its dominant market position by restricting online travel agencies.
Ryanair announced plans to file an immediate appeal, describing the decision as legally flawed.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary launched a campaign against online travel agencies like Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak, calling them “pirates” and accusing them of exploiting customers with hidden fees and inflated ticket prices.
Although most of Ryanair’s sales already came through its own website, the airline introduced facial recognition for third-party bookings, blocked payment methods and deleted agency accounts to curb outside sales.
It also forced agencies into restrictive partnerships that banned combining Ryanair flights with other carriers.
In July, Ryanair officials publicly called on the European Commission to reform EU air traffic control services as strikes by French workers canceled flights for more than 30,000 people.
Only in April did the airline reopen access to allow fair competition.
Regulators said these tactics made booking Ryanair flights through other services needlessly difficult and costly.
O’Leary called the ruling an “affront to consumer protection and competition law.”
“The internet and the ryanair.com website have enabled Ryanair to distribute directly to consumers, and Ryanair has passed on these 20% cost savings in the form of the lowest air fares in Italy and Europe,” he added.
