Overview
- AGCM levied a €255,761,692 penalty on Ryanair DAC and Ryanair Holdings for abuse spanning April 2023 to at least April 2025.
- The case details a phased strategy that included facial‑recognition checks for agency-bought tickets, intermittent booking blocks, disabled payment methods, mass deletion of OTA accounts, and restrictive contracts such as Travel Agent Direct.
- Regulators found Ryanair dominant on routes to and from Italy, citing roughly a 38–40% passenger share and other indicators of significant market power.
- The conduct curbed agency sales and OTA traffic, limiting the ability to bundle Ryanair with other airlines or tourism services and reducing consumer choice.
- Behavioral remedies require an end to distortive practices, with AGCM noting April 2025 whitelabel iFrame/API tools could restore competition if fully implemented; Ryanair rejects the findings and announces an immediate court appeal, referencing a 2024 Milan ruling.