The AGCM sanctions Ryanair for abuse of a dominant position: for the Authority it has “hindered the ability of travel agencies to purchase Ryanair flights”. The company defines the measure as “bizarre and unfounded” and announces an appeal
Ryanair has ended up in the crosshairs of the Antitrust for abuse of a dominant position. The Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has imposed a fine of over 255 million euros on the Irish low-cost flight company for having hindered the activity of travel agencies in booking airline tickets.
The dominant position
According to the Antitrust, for two years, from April 2023 to at least April 2025, Ryanair would have created a strategy aimed at “blocking, hindering or making more difficult and/or economically or technically onerous the purchase of Ryanair flights on the ryanair.com website” by both online travel agencies (OTAs) and physical ones. For the Authority, the Irish group “has a dominant position in the upstream market of national and European scheduled air passenger transport services to/from Italy, as an input for online (OTA) and physical travel agencies”. The dominant position would derive, according to the Antitrust note, not only from “significant market shares” or between “38 and 40% of passengers transported”, but also from “other indicators” which would demonstrate “significant market power and the ability to act independently of competitors and consumers”.
The strategy developed in three phases
The strategy would be divided into three phases. In the first, dating back to the spring of 2023, Ryanair “introduced facial recognition procedures” for passengers who had bought airline tickets “through an agency”. In the second, at the end of the same year, it “totally or intermittently blocked booking attempts by travel agencies on its site”. And in the third, dating back to the beginning of 2024, “it imposed partnership agreements” first “on the OTAs” and then “of Travel Agent Direct on the physical agencies” with “conditions limiting the possibility of the agencies offering the Ryanair flight combined with other services”. And only in April 2025, Ryanair provided “the integration of IT applications” which allow “restoring correct conditions of competition in the downstream market of tourist services”. Therefore, at the end of the investigation, the Authority concluded that «the ascertained conduct ultimately jeopardized the agencies’ ability to purchase Ryanair flights to combine them with the flights of other carriers and/or additional tourist services, reducing direct and indirect competition exercised by the agencies themselves and, consequently, the quality and quantity of tourist services offered to consumers».
The appeal announced
The low-cost airline promised battle in a note. Defining the measure as “bizarre and unfounded”, Ryanair announced that it will appeal. For the Irish group, the Antitrust decision is in contrast with the ruling of the Court of Milan dating back to January 2024, in which it was recognized that Ryanair’s direct distribution model is “undoubtedly advantageous for consumers”. The note states: «To invent this legally unfounded ruling, the AGCM ignored the fact that Ryanair does not hold a dominant market share (just over 30%) in the Italian market».
The words of Ryanair’s CEO
Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, also intervened and declared: «If the AGCM’s ruling and sanction, which are legally unfounded, are not challenged, the AGCM would place itself above the Milan Courts in decisions on competition matters». And he wanted to point out that the low-cost airline “has been fighting for a transparent pricing policy for many years” and that the agreements between Ryanair and the OTAs “are manifestly and clearly in favor of consumers”.
