ITALY'S AGCM REJECTS OTA
PIRATE REQUEST FOR INJUNCTION AGAINST RYANAIR
RYANAIR WELCOMES AGCM RULING
WHICH WILL DELIVER
MORE LOW FARES FOR ITALIAN CONSUMERS
Ryanair today (30 May) welcomed
Italy's AGCM decision to reject an application from Spanish OTA
Pirate (eDreams) for an injunction against Ryanair's pro-consumer
direct distribution policy on the basis that there is "no danger of serious and
irreparable damage to competition".This AGCM ruling comes shortly after
the Milan Court of Appeal ruled in Jan 2024 that Ryanair's direct
sales policy is "economically justified", leads to lower
costs and lower fares, and "undoubtedly benefits consumers".
Yesterday's AGCM decision shows that OTA Pirates like eDreams
cannot mislead competition authorities about their overcharging of
Italian consumers with hidden markups on air fares, baggage and
seat fees.
Ryanair has in recent months signed
"Approved OTA" agreements with multiple OTAs, including
loveholidays, Kiwi, TUI, On the Beach, eSky and El Corte Inglés,
under which these OTAs have agreed to stop screenscraping the
Ryanair.com website, and to stop overcharging consumers with
inflated air fares, and ancillary fees. These approved OTA
agreements demonstrate how OTAs can work transparently with Ryanair
for the benefit of both Italian citizens, and all other EU
consumers.
Ryanair welcomes this latest
platform opportunity to demonstrate to the AGCM the pro-competition
and pro-consumer nature of its "Approved OTA" agreements. These
agreements ensure that customers are being offered real Ryanair air
fares and ancillary services, while Ryanair obtains real customer
contact and payment details. These agreements contrast with the OTA
Pirate model still being used by Spanish Pirate eDreams, which
involves unlawful digital piracy (screenscraping) of the
Ryanair.com website, and then inflating airline prices with hidden
overcharges and/or invented fees for non-existent services, which
seriously harm Italian and EU consumers, as follows:
Ryanair continues to campaign for
consumer protection from overcharging OTA Pirates like eDreams,
Opodo and Booking.com. Ryanair calls on the AGCM to now
investigate these few remaining OTA Pirates and take urgent action
to protect Italian consumers.
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:
"eDreams' efforts to lie to the AGCM with its false claims
have yet again failed. We welcome yesterday's AGCM ruling to
dismiss eDreams application for an injunction against Ryanair. The
AGCM clearly saw through false claims made to it by Spanish OTA Pirate eDreams about Ryanair's
pro-consumer distribution policy. The
Milan Court of Appeal in Jan already ruled that Ryanair's direct
online sales policy is "economically justified", leads to lower
costs and lower fares, and "undoubtedly benefits
consumers".
As OTA Pirates like eDreams
continue to scam and overcharge Italian consumers
with hidden mark-ups and invented charges for Ryanair services, we
repeat our call on the AGCM to now take urgent action to protect
Italian consumers from these overcharging OTA Pirates like eDreams,
Opodo and Booking.com."
ENDS
For further info
please
contact:
Ryanair Press
Office
Tel:
+353-1-9451799
press@ryanair.com