Italian Competition Authority to probe Ryanair

The Italian Competition Authority is to investigate Ryanair over alleged exclusionary abuse of a dominant position, it was announced on Wednesday.

The Rome-based body said the probe had been triggered after it had received “several” reports about the budget carrier, Europe’s largest and a market leader in Italy.

It is concerned that Ryanair is using its dominant position to “extend its power” into other tourist services, such as hotels and car rental, at the detriment of both travel agencies and customers.

It continued: “On one side, Ryanair appears to impede travel agencies from directly acquiring airline tickets through their own websites.

“On the other side, Ryanair permits the purchase of airline tickets exclusively for traditional travel agencies via the GDS platform, subjecting them to considerably less favourable conditions in terms of pricing, range of available services and post-sale management of airline tickets.”

Ryanair was not immediately available for comment.