Italy Fines Ryanair More Than €255 Million Over Treatment of Travel Agencies

Key Takeaways

• €255.76 Million Penalty: Italy’s competition authority fined Ryanair and its parent for abusing a dominant position.
• Market Power in Italy: Ryanair carries roughly 38–40 percent of passengers on routes to and from Italy, underpinning the Authority’s findings.
• Escalating Restrictions: Measures ranged from facial recognition checks to blocked bookings, payment restrictions, and deleted OTA-linked accounts.
• Pressure on Agencies: Partnership agreements and public campaigns were used to steer agencies into restrictive arrangements.

Deep Dive

Italy’s competition watchdog has hit Ryanair with a €255.76 million fine, jointly and severally with its parent Ryanair Holdings plc, after concluding that the airline abused its dominant position in the market for passenger air transport services to and from Italy.

In a decision issued under case A568, the Italian Competition Authority found that Ryanair pursued a sustained strategy that made it harder for online and traditional travel agencies to sell Ryanair flights as part of broader tourism offerings.

The Authority said the airline holds a dominant position in scheduled passenger air transport services to and from Italy, across both domestic and European routes, which travel agencies rely on as a core input when assembling travel packages. Ryanair’s market share of roughly 38 to 40 percent of all passengers carried on routes to and from Italy, combined with other structural advantages, was found to give it significant market power and the ability to operate largely independently of competitors and consumers.

From Friction to Outright Blocks

According to the Authority, the strategy did not appear overnight. Investigators found that Ryanair began exploring ways to limit the role of travel agencies at the end of 2022, before rolling out a series of increasingly restrictive measures from mid-April 2023 onward.

The first phase introduced additional friction. Ryanair implemented facial recognition procedures on its website that were triggered for customers who had purchased tickets through travel agencies. While presented as a verification step, the Authority concluded that these measures disproportionately affected agency-based bookings.

The second phase, emerging toward the end of 2023 while the investigation was already underway, was more direct. Ryanair intermittently or fully blocked booking attempts by travel agencies on ryanair.com. This included blocking certain payment methods and mass-deleting accounts linked to online travel agency bookings, making it difficult, at times impossible, for agencies to complete transactions.

In early 2024, the strategy entered a third phase. Ryanair imposed partnership agreements on online travel agencies and introduced Travel Agent Direct accounts for traditional agencies. These arrangements included terms that restricted agencies from offering Ryanair flights in combination with other airlines’ flights or with additional tourism and insurance services. To encourage compliance, the Authority said Ryanair periodically blocked bookings and launched an aggressive public campaign against non-signatory platforms, branding them as “pirate OTAs.”

A Late Opening, but Not Enough

In April 2025, Ryanair made a full white-label iFrame solution available to online travel agencies. This tool allows agencies to integrate IT applications, or APIs, that (if properly implemented) can restore effective competition in the downstream market for tourism services.

But the Authority concluded that, until those APIs were made available and integrated, Ryanair’s conduct both could and did harm competition. By limiting agencies’ ability to combine Ryanair flights with other carriers’ services or with additional tourism products, the airline weakened competition among travel agencies and online platforms. That, in turn, reduced the quality and range of options available to consumers booking travel to and from Italy.

The size of the fine reflects not only the duration of the conduct, but also Ryanair’s market position in a sector where access to flight inventory is a critical input for downstream competition.

The GRC Report is your premier destination for the latest in governance, risk, and compliance news. As your reliable source for comprehensive coverage, we ensure you stay informed and ready to navigate the dynamic landscape of GRC. Beyond being a news source, the GRC Report represents a thriving community of professionals who, like you, are dedicated to GRC excellence. Explore our insightful articles and breaking news, and actively participate in the conversation to enhance your GRC journey.