ROME (Reuters) -Ryanair hit back on Wednesday in a dispute with Italy’s antitrust regulator (AGCM) which this week ordered the Irish budget carrier to stop limiting or blocking the sale of its flight tickets by travel agencies.
“We think the case has no merit whatsoever,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told a news conference in Rome, adding that a Ryanair representative would meet the AGCM on Thursday.
O’Leary said the case had its roots in a dispute with Spanish online travel agency eDreams and that Ryanair would file its own complaint with the AGCM about eDreams’ Prime membership service.
He had arrived at the press conference carrying a placard reading “Stop OTA (Online Travel Agency) Pirates, Protect Passengers.”
Ryanair is now the largest airline operator in Italy but has clashed with the government over fares to Italy’s two main islands, Sicily and Sardinia.
O’Leary said the carrier was not exploiting its position.
“Do we have a large share of the Italian market? Yes, because we are offering the lowest fares,” he said.
(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Gavin Jones and Mark Potter)
