The Italian Competition Authority decided on the 29th of November, to commence a non-compliance procedure against Ryan Air for failure to comply with the interim measures adopted on the 25th of October 2017 which the AGCM imposed on the Irish airline, following the cancellation of flights operated in the months of September and October - traceable to a large extent to the organizational and management negligence of the carrier – and the absence of clear, transparent and immediately accessible information on the rights of the Italian consumers according to EC Regulation n. 261/2004.

In particular, the AGCM, with its interim measures ordered Ryanair to inform Italian consumers - whether by means of specifically direct communication or through information written in Italian that can easily be found on the company’s homepage - of the rights emerging from the cancellation of flights in a manner that enables them to gain full and adequate awareness concerning:

- immediately accessible and comprehensible information about the provisions that offer not only the rights to refund and/or free modification of cancelled flights, but also the right to monetary compensation where due;

- a complete list comprising dates, itinerary and number (e.g. FRxxx) of every cancelled flight showing which ones offer provisions for refund, free modification, as well as monetary compensation, where due;

- the links, and immediate availability of the procedure to be followed in order to request refunds and/or free modifications, as well as monetary compensation for those to whom such is due.

By the end of the 10-day-term foreseen by the aforementioned decision of the 25th of October, Ryanair had not communicated the actions it had undertaken to implement the measures prescribed in AGCM’s interim decision. Such behavior continued even after the TAR (Regional Administrative Court) of Lazio rejected, on the 22nd of November, Ryanair’s appeal to suspend the execution of the interim measures decided by the AGCM; the Irish company has currently not transmitted to the AGCM any communication in this regard, nor evidence that any actions to comply with the interim measures have been put in place.

The non-compliance procedure decided on the 29th of November could lead to the imposition of a monetary sanction between 10,000 to 5,000,000 euros.

Rome, 4 December, 2017