Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has carried out an "unannounced inspection" of Ryanair's offices in Dublin as part of an "ongoing investigation" by Italian counterparts into "potential breaches of EU competition law".
On the development, Ryanair has acknowledged the facts, explaining that this action is part of an open investigation in Italy "due to allegations made by OTAs and travel agencies about Ryanair's long campaign to protect consumers from digital piracy and overpricing." ” of these intermediaries.
The inspection took place at 12.30am and comes after Ryanair said a court in Milan dismissed claims against it which had been made by Italian online travel agents.
Competition watchdog agencies across the European Union can carry out inspections like the one today at the request of their counterparts in different countries.
As per the CCPC spokesperson said it was "supported" by Italian officials and gardaí, and that the inspection relates to "ongoing" Italian investigations into "potential breaches of EU competition law".
In a statement, Ryanair welcomed the inspection and said it was part of an investigation in Italy into claims made by Italian online travel agents (OTAs) and traditional travel agencies about
“Ryanair’s long running campaign to protect consumers from digital piracy and OTA overcharging”.
This is not the first time Ryanair and Italian competition authorities have clashed - the company was fined €3 million for its baggage policy in 2019. The current Italian Government launched a probe into the airline’s practices last autumn, specifically to look at Ryanair’s potential abuses of its dominant market position.
The CCPC spokesperson added further:
"The CCPC has carried out an unannounced inspection at the premises of a business active in the passenger aviation sector on behalf of the Italian Competition Authority, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM).
"This unannounced inspection forms part of an ongoing investigation by the AGCM into potential breaches of EU competition law. Authorised Officers from the CCPC were supported by colleagues from the AGCM and from an Garda Síochána.
"The CCPC is the statutory body responsible for the enforcement of competition law in Ireland."
However, the Ryanair spokesperson said any claims against it by Italian online travel agents are unfounded.
"Ryanair today received a visit from a team from the Italian AGCM together with the Irish CCPC as part of an investigation in Italy into claims made by Italian online travel agents and travel agencies about Ryanair's long-running campaign to protect consumers from digital piracy and online travel agent over-charging.
As per sources, recently a number of these online travel agents have signed "approved" online travel agent distribution agreements with Ryanair under which they agreed to stop screen scraping the www.ryanair.com website and to stop over-charging consumers with inflated air fares, inflated ancillary fees and invented fees for non-existent services.
Ryanair has alleged that online travel agents, including those in Italy, are overcharging customers, referring to the agencies as “pirates”.
