Ryanair Fined €256m by Italy for Anti-Competitive Practices Against Online Travel Agencies
Italy’s competition authority has fined Ryanair €256 million for abusing its dominant market position to restrict sales through online travel agencies (OTAs). The conduct, which spanned from April 2023 to at least April 2025, involved a detailed strategy of technical barriers designed to redirect customers to Ryanair’s own website.
Measures taken by Ryanair included blocking bookings and payments made through OTAs, implementing facial-recognition verification for third-party purchases, and mass-deleting customer accounts associated with OTAs. Agency links to Ryanair’s services were only allowed from April 2025, after which the competition authority stated that competitive conditions could resume.
The authority noted that Ryanair’s actions obstructed or complicated ticket purchases when combined with other carriers or services, resulting in weakened competition in the market. Ryanair has announced plans to appeal the ruling, labeling it legally flawed and emphasizing that direct ticket sales through ryanair.com generate approximately 20% cost savings and consequently lower fares.
Despite the fine, Ryanair retains a strong market presence, boasting a record valuation of €31 billion (£27 billion), making it the world’s second-most valuable airline after Delta Air Lines. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, has led a campaign against so-called 'pirate travel agents' such as Booking.com, Kiwi, and Kayak. O’Leary is expected to pass control of Ryanair to a successor within 5–10 years and stands to receive €111 million in shares if he remains with the company until the end of July 2028.
