L’Italian Competition and Market Authority opened an investigation against the low cost Ryanairaccused ofabuse of dominant position at the expense of travel agencies.
The Irish airline would use its position as the largest airline to increase its position by offering other services such as hotel room reservations and car rentals, to the detriment of online or traditional travel agencies and consumers. According to the authority, “Ryanair appears to hinder the purchase by agencies of tickets on their own sites” and forces agencies to go through an intermediary platform to acquire tickets, “on much less favorable conditions in terms of price, services available and management of the ticket after the sale“.
“Ryanair’s conduct, aimed at limiting the ability of travel agencies to sell airline tickets, which is generally the first purchase made to organize a holiday and represents the gateway to the sale of other services, would have effects not only on agencies but also on end consumers“, estimates the Italian Competition and Market Authority.
The opening of this investigation would in fact be the response of the government of Rome to Ryanair which refuses to comply with the capping of plane ticket prices on flights to Sardinia and Sicily.
