Ryanair strongly opposes the plan of the government of Rome to cap airline ticket prices towards Sicily and Sardiniaestimating the measure “illegal and unenforceable“.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced that it is preparing a decree limiting ticket prices to Sardinia and Sicily.during periods of peak demand“, that is to say during the summer essentially, at a maximum of “200% of the average ticket price” over the year.
Not only would the Irish low cost refuse to apply the Italian government’s decree while filing an appeal with the European Commission, it could retaliate by reducing its domestic flights to the two Italian islands this winter. “The decree is illegal because European rules stipulate that prices are set by the market“, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said on Tuesday in an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera. The European Commission “will retort the Italian measure. In the meantime, we won’t respect this bullshit“, he said with his usual frankness.
“We have had two technical meetings with the Ministry of Business and even they do not know how to apply” the decree, railed Michael O’Leary. Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso “he himself does not understand. They did it just for the fun of it“.
Ryanair has announced its intention to reduce its flights to Sardinia by 8% this winter. Domestic flights to Sicily are also expected to fall by 10%. “In this way, prices for domestic flights will increase and prices for international flights will fall, which is exactly the opposite of what the government wants,” said the Ryanair boss. In response, Italian Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters that Italy “is a sovereign country and she will not allow anyone to blackmail her“.
