Harassing conduct: the tug of war between travel agencies and Ryanair continues

Stop harassing conduct. This is what the lawyers of the travel agents and organized tourism associations reiterated at the hearing at the Competition and Market Authority during the precautionary proceedings once morest Ryanair. Fiavet-Confcommercio, promoter of the parallel lawsuit for unfair competition once morest Ryanair at the Court of Milan and which intervened in the Antitrust proceedings already last October, underlined through the lawyer Federico Lucarelli the continuation of Ryanair’s behavior to the detriment of travel agencies. In turn Veronica Scaletta, lawyer of the Italian Association of Travel Agents (Aiav) supported the request of the OTAs and reiterated her request to put an end to these behaviors, also towards traditional travel agencies, asking in particular for the opening of access codes reserved for traditional agencies, the cessation of facial recognition procedures for customers and the sending of denigrating communications once morest agencies. Fiavet and Aiav highlighted the need and urgency for the Authority to adopt a precautionary measure to immediately put an end to the blocking carried out by the carrier of bookings brokered by travel agents.

In May 2023, the AIAV highlighted in a substantial dossier, shared by Fiavet Confcommercio and other trade associations, demonstrating the adoption of sophisticated technical mechanisms by the carrier to discourage the sale of its flights by travel agencies: selective display of fares without access to the most convenient ones, increased prices for extras such as baggage transport or seat selection and complex facial recognition procedures for passengers. The Guarantor Authority will soon have to decide whether or not to adopt an urgent precautionary measure. Ryanair’s strong legal and media opposition demonstrates great concern. The provision might have a disruptive effect on the business model and the future of the carrier, calling into question for the first time, on an international scale, the unilateral choice to use sophisticated technical procedures which, in a subtle and opaque way, discourage access, the distribution and sale of its services to entities entitled by law to do so.

«I thank the fundamental contribution of the lawyers Veronica Scaletta on behalf of Aiav and Federico Lucarelli, on behalf of Fiavet – underlines Fulvio Avataneo, president of AIAV -. The adoption of the precautionary measure once morest Ryanair would represent a huge step forward for agencies, which might thus have the freedom to book flights on the Ryanair website directly on behalf of their customers, avoiding all the obstacles that the company has posed to date to their work. And it would also be a warning once morest repeated incorrect statements towards our category, which are harmful to the professional and human dignity of the workers who are part of it.” For his part, Giuseppe Ciminnisi, president of Fiavet-Confcommercio, adds: «We wanted to point out to the authority the indifferent need for a precautionary measure to immediately guarantee the restoration of the right of travel agencies to mediate the sale of Ryanair ticketing, being the travel agencies unable to purchase company tickets for their customers, with serious consequences on the progress of the next summer tourist season. It was a necessary and dutiful presence. We trust that the Authority will be able to decide by adopting appropriate and completely well-founded measures.”

For his part, Michael O’Leary, CEO of the Ryanair Group, during a press conference showed the face of Roberto Rustichelli, president of the Competition and Market Authority, “made up” as a pirate, saying: «Travel agencies they are pirates, the Antitrust is their captain.” The agencies targeted by O’Leary are Booking, opodo, e-Dreams while Ryanair has signed “Approved Ota” agreements with several online agencies, including Loveholidays, Kiwi, Tui, On the Beach, eSky and El Corte Inglés.