Italy’s competition authority on Tuesday fined low-cost airline Ryanair over €255 million ($300 million), accusing the carrier of abusing its dominant position to restrict travel agencies’ access to its services.
The fine follows a similar move by the antitrust regulator on Monday, when US tech giant Apple was penalized €98 million for alleged market abuse in the mobile app sector.
According to the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), Ryanair implemented “an abusive strategy” between 2023 and at least April 2025 that made it difficult for travel agencies to combine Ryanair flights with other airline tickets or travel services.
The AGCM said the airline’s approach aimed “to block, hinder, complicate or make it more expensive (economically or technically) for travel agencies to purchase Ryanair flights on the ryanair.com website… whether in combination with flights offered by other airlines or other travel and insurance services.”
“These practices compromised the ability of agencies to purchase Ryanair flights and combine them with flights from other airlines and/or additional travel services, thereby reducing direct and indirect competition between agencies,” the regulator added.
This is not the first time Ryanair has faced penalties in Italy. In 2019, the airline was fined €3 million for charging passengers for cabin baggage, though the fine was later overturned by an administrative court.
