10M SUMMER 2026 SEATS ON SALE

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Fri, 26 Dec) launched its biggest ever seat sale with over 10 million Summer 2026 seats on offer at big discounts for early bookers.

What better way to beat the post-Christmas blues than by planning your Summer 2026 holiday across Ryanair’s industry leading network of over 235 destinations, including top sunshine hotspots like Corfu, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Malaga, Malta, Palermo, Palma, Rhodes, Santorini, and Tenerife, as well as exciting city breaks to Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Dubrovnik, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Pisa, Paris, Valencia, and Rome.

Ryanair’s biggest ever seat sale (10m Summer 2026 seats) will sell out fast, so make sure to book your Summer 2026 holiday via the Ryanair App now to snap up some bargain fares before prices rise in the new year.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“Now that Christmas is over, it’s time to look forward to your Summer 2026 holidays. Whether you’re seeking sun, sea, city or all the above, Ryanair’s Summer 2026 sale – our biggest ever sale with 10m discount seats on offer – delivers incredible value across Ryanair’s more than 235 destinations, including top sunshine hotspots like Alicante, Corfu, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Malaga, Malta, Palermo, Palma, Rhodes, Santorini, and Tenerife, as well as exciting city break destinations, like Athens, Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Pisa, Paris, Valencia, and Rome. These bargain fares will sell out fast, so make sure you book your Summer 2026 holiday today via the Ryanair App or website.”

MILAN COURT IN 2024 ALREADY DECLARED RYANAIR’S DIRECT DISTRIBUTION “UNDOUBTEDLY BENEFITS CONSUMERS”.

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Tues, 23 Dec) instructed its lawyers to immediately appeal both the bizarre/unsound ruling and the €256m fine, unjustly levied by the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), which seeks to ignore – and overturn – the Jan 2024 Precedent Ruling of the Milan Court, which declared that Ryanair’s direct distribution model “undoubtedly benefits consumers” and leads to “competitive fares”. Today’s Ruling validates Ryanair’s current distribution agreements, which guarantee price transparency for consumers, and safeguards the continuing availability of the lowest promotional fares on ryanair.com. The AGCM’s baseless efforts to redefine a period of time after the Milan Court Ruling, and to wrongly claim that Ryanair has a dominant position in air services to/from Italy will be overturned. This Ruling and fine are legally unsound, and will be overturned on appeal.

Ryanair has campaigned for many years to offer consumers the lowest fares by booking directly on the ryanair.com website. This direct distribution model was ruled to “undoubtedly benefits consumers” by the Milan Court, as recently as Jan 2024. However, under pressure from a Spanish OTA (which has repeatedly overcharged unsuspecting consumers), and a tiny number of bricks and mortar travel agents in Italy, the AGCM has today issued a Ruling (and this absurd fine), which flies in the face of the Jan 2024 Milan Court Ruling.

In order to invent this legally unsound Ruling, the AGCM has ignored the fact of Ryanair’s non-dominant (just over 30%) share of the Italian market, by gerrymandering to exclude both long haul air travel, and short haul air access to a number of other countries, so that it could invent this claim that Ryanair holds a dominant position in the Italian air travel market. It also seeks to exclude competing rail, bus, ferry and motorway travel from the market definition, in what is clearly an invented, but untenable market definition.

The AGCM Ruling appears to accept that Ryanair’s current approved OTA and Travel Agent Direct agreements, which allow all OTAs and bricks and mortar travel agents “cost free” unfettered access to Ryanair’s airfares (with the sole exception of Ryanair’s promotional fares) as long as they agree not to overcharge consumers when selling Ryanair’s fares and ancillary services, comply with competition law. Nevertheless, this contorted ruling and its absurd fine flies in the face of the Milan Court decision of Jan 2024, and can only be the product of a biased and unsound analysis of Ryanair’s pro-consumer pricing in every market in Italy in which Ryanair operates.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“If today’s legally unsound AGCM Ruling and fine is not appealed, then the AGCM proposes to set itself above the Milan Courts in making competition decisions. Ryanair has fought for many years for transparent pricing, and our approved OTA agreements (which have been agreed by almost every large OTA, with the notable exception of one Spanish OTA, who continues to overcharge its customers for flights and ancillary services) are manifestly and clearly pro-consumer.

When Ryanair first started in 1985, 20% of ticket revenues were wasted paying travel agents 10% commissions, and GDS systems 10% commissions, in an industry with high fares, but profit margins of less than 1%. The internet and the ryanair.com website have enabled Ryanair to distribute directly to consumers, and Ryanair has passed on these 20% cost savings in the form of the lowest air fares in Italy and Europe. Today’s AGCM ruling is both legally unsound, and it contradicts the Precedent Milan Court Ruling of January 2024, which declared that Ryanair’s direct distribution model “undoubtedly benefits consumers”.

This AGCM Ruling is an affront to the Precedent Milan Court Ruling, and also an affront to consumer protection and competition law. Ryanair has grown rapidly in Italy – and in many other markets across Europe – by always offering the lowest air fares in every single market in which we operate. This legally baseless AGCM Ruling, and its absurd €256m fine, undermines consumer protection and competition law, and it will be overturned on appeal.

The AGCM should have followed the Jan 2024 Precedent Ruling of the Milan Court, which ruled that Ryanair’s direct distribution model

• “undoubtedly benefit[s] consumers” by leading to lower fares
• is “economically justified in terms of containing operating costs, and eliminating the costs associated with  intermediation in ticket sales”
• “contribute[s] to…a direct channel of communication…for any possible need for information and updates on flights”.

Ryanair looks forward to successfully overturning this legally flawed ruling and its absurd €256m fine in the Courts. Today’s Ruling shows that the AGCM cannot be trusted to protect consumers, or uphold competition law, when it can be so easily misled by a tiny number of self-serving bricks & mortar travel agents and a Spanish OTA, making false claims. It is these OTAs and travel agents that the AGCM should be protecting consumers from. Today’s AGCM Ruling cannot ignore, and must respect the Precedent Jan 2024 Ruling of the Milan Court, and the pro-consumer behaviour of Ryanair in every market in Italy in which we operate. Both we and our lawyers, are confident that this flawed, gerrymandered AGCM ruling and its absurd €256m fine will be overturned on appeal.”

ENDS

Note to Editors

Please find below background Note to Editors, summarizing Ryanair’s distribution model and the Jan 2024 Milan Court Ruling.

1.  When Ryanair first opened its Ryanair.com website in 1999, it guaranteed consumers that its lowest fares would only be available on its website because the internet allowed Ryanair to save costs of GDS distribution and travel agency commissions (approx. 20% of each fare), which Ryanair then passed back to customers in lower fares when they booked direct on its website.

2.  Online travel agents (OTAs) and price comparison websites emerged in the early 2000s, Ryanair offered all such agents a price comparison licence agreement which would give them access to the Ryanair.com website as long as they agreed to present real Ryanair prices.

3.  As the internet developed, the OTAs developed new techniques to “scrape” content from Ryanair.com (despite the fact that this unauthorised scraping was in breach of Ryanair’s Ts&Cs), resell Ryanair tickets and overcharge consumers. Since the 2000s, Ryanair introduced a series of security measures to prevent OTAs from overcharging Ryanair customers. However, none of these measures were successful in the long term as OTAs switched to using “burner IP addresses”, virtual credit cards and more recently PayPal in China to circumvent payment security rules, and started using fake email addresses, which prevented Ryanair from communicating directly with the customer to give them flight updates, or in some cases (during Covid) refunds.

4.  While this cat and mouse game was played out between Ryanair and these overcharging OTAs, unsuspecting customers were often charged hidden handling fees. In other examples, the OTAs overcharged consumers for Ryanair ancillary services such as bag fees, priority boarding and seat selection.  To this day Ryanair publishes a monthly survey of this overcharging by OTAs proving real consumer harm.

5.  All of these issues were considered in detail by the Milan Court of Appeal (in combined cases taken by Lastminute and Viaggiare) – see summary of judgment below.

6.  Since January 2024 Ryanair has entered into numerous “approved OTA agreements” under which Ryanair gives direct access to its website to OTAs who agree not to screenscrape Ryanair.com and to present true Ryanair prices for fares and ancillary services to consumers, with no hidden add-ons. The OTAs and agents are free to charge the customer a transparent agency fee if they so wish or to offer discounts. The same access to Ryanair’s fares inventory is available to traditional travel agents under Ryanair’s Travel Agent Direct platform and through traditional Global Distribution Systems.

On 17 Jan 2024, the Milan Court of Appeal ruled as follows in Lastminute/Viaggiare vs. Ryanair:

1.  Ryanair’s decision to reserve the sale of its air services to itself does not constitute abuse of a dominant position.

2.  The Court holds that there is no abuse of a dominant position by Ryanair on the downstream market of travel and tourism services having reserved for itself the direct sale of its airline tickets.

3.  It has been shown that Ryanair’s choice of reserving for itself the sale of its airline tickets, does not deprive, nor has it deprived, the OTA of access to a resource considered essential to carry out the OTA’s business.

4.  Ryanair sells “only” its airline tickets, and does not sell tickets of other carriers. OTAs on the other hand broker the sale of airline tickets from all airlines and other modes of transport (railways, buses, ferries, cruise ships, etc.).

5.  It is undisputed among the parties that through the payment of a token price licence, the OTAs can access and compare Ryanair’s price and flight schedules. Thus, there is no evidence of “refusal” to provide such information.

6.  As for the risk of eliminating competition, the Court notes that taking into account the different scope in which OTAs and Ryanair operate, predominantly in the downstream market (for the sale of non-aviation services), the likely occurrence of such an event should be ruled out.

7.  The OTA has asserted that the sale of airline tickets is the main driver of OTAs’ revenues. This assertion is incorrect when referring to OTAs in general, for which the booking of hotels and other accommodation appear significantly more important than the sale of airline tickets and are considered to be the real driver of their business.

8.  Ryanair’s entrepreneurial choice to sell its airline tickets directly is “economically justified” in terms of reasonableness, in terms of containing operating costs, and eliminating the costs associated with distribution in ticket sales. This has contributed to the application of competitive fares, which undoubtedly benefits consumers, and to the possibility of having direct channels of communication with them for any possible need for information and updates on flights.  No harm to users therefore was established by the investigation conducted.

Ryanair, Ireland’s largest airline, today (Tues, 23 Dec) called on Taoiseach Micheál “do-nothing” Martin, to explain why 12 months after his Jan 2025 Programme for Govt promised to scrap the Dublin Airport traffic cap “as soon as possible“ no progress has been made, despite his Govt’s 20 seat majority in Dáil Éireann. Ryanair believes this is because Micheál Martin is so busy travelling overseas, getting his photograph taken at the COP summit in Brazil, the G20 meeting in South Africa, his pointless trip to Angola, or this week’s jolly to see the Defence Forces in Lebanon (which could have been done by the Defence Minister), which is why he gets nothing done here at home!

Micheál Martin’s Programme for Govt 2025, promised to scrap the Dublin Airport cap “as soon as possible“, but 12 months later, nothing has been done. The Cabinet approved something in Sept, but there’s still no legislation, no action, no delivery, and no sign of any plan to scrap this absurd and illegal cap.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, asked:

“Why does our “do-nothing” Taoiseach spend all his time travelling abroad, and almost no time delivering his Programme for Govt here at home? 12 months after he promised to scrap the Dublin Airport cap “as soon as possible“, no action has been taken by Micheál Martin. There’s been no delivery on infrastructure, no delivery on housing, no delivery on any other part of his Programme for Govt either.

He has lots of Ministers who can attend these overseas meetings, but Micheál Martin would show up to the opening of an envelope if it involved getting his photograph taken. In Nov, he turned up to open the Baggage Hall at Kerry Airport (a gig that could have been done by the Transport Minister), but no, Micheál Martin, while doing nothing about the Dublin Airport cap, has time to show up to open a Baggage Hall in Kerry Airport.

There is no excuse for Micheál Martin’s abject failure to deliver on his Programme for Govt. With the 20 seat majority, he can and should have scrapped this illegal Dublin Airport cap in 3 or 4 months. The latest “spin” from his Govt is that legislation “might” be moved in Spring, and “might” be passed by the end of 2026. This is far too slow as it prevents the American airlines opening new routes in Dublin in summer 2026.

It’s time for Micheál “do-nothing” Martin to spend less time travelling abroad getting his picture taken, and more time here at home, delivering on his Programme for Govt, which committed him to scrapping the Dublin Airport cap “as soon as possible“.

Micheál Martin’s New Year resolution should be: “Stay at home and do something, but stop wasting time travelling abroad, to get your picture taken”. We’re frankly fed up of this “do-nothing” Taoiseach and this “do-nothing” Govt, failing to deliver their own Programme. If he won’t scrap the cap – as soon as possible – then he should resign, and allow somebody competent to deliver his Programme for Govt and scrap the cap, so that Ryanair and other airlines can deliver new routes, traffic and jobs growth here for Ireland, where Micheál “do-nothing” Martin and his trips to Angola has delivered nothing but excuses.”

THROUGH EXCLUSIVE ESN PARTNERSHIP DISCOUNTED RYANAIR FLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS TRAVELLING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (22 Dec) announced that it has now carried over 1 million Erasmus students across its industry-leading network of 235+ destinations as part of its exclusive partnership the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) – a significant milestone demonstrating the vital role this partnership plays in supporting Erasmus student mobility during their educational exchange.

Thousands of students across Europe are set to travel home this Christmas. Through this exclusive partnership, registered ESN students can avail of a 10% discount on four one-way flights (or 2 round-trips) and a free 20kg checked-in bag with every flight booked, ensuring they can spend the festive season with family and friends even on a student budget.

Ryanair’s Director of Comms, Jade Kirwan said:

“We’re pleased to see that over 1 million Erasmus students have benefited from our exclusive partnership with Erasmus Student Network (ESN), which supports low-fare mobility for Erasmus students across Europe for their educational exchanges. With thousands of students expected to travel home this Christmas to spend the festive season with family and friends, registered ESN students can now book discounted Ryanair flights across our industry-leading network of over 235 destinations through the dedicated Erasmus student platform at Ryanair.com.”

Rui Vinha, ESN Treasurer said:

“Reaching one million bookings demonstrates the significant impact of the partnership with Ryanair on the international student community and its ongoing importance during their mobility period. Whether students are travelling to their new home, going back, or taking the chance to discover new places, for nine years, the joint efforts of ESN and Ryanair have continued to positively impact students’ lives, which is our ultimate goal.”

2 BASED AIRCRAFT, US$200M INVESTMENT AND 20 ROUTES (7 NEW)

Ryanair, Morocco’s No.1 airline, today (Dec 17)announced the opening of its new 2-aircraft base (US$200m invest) in Rabat from April ’26, with 20 exciting routes (incl. 7 new routes connecting Rabat to major European destinations) for Summer ‘26. Rabat will become Ryanair’s fifth Moroccan base – further enhancing low-fare connectivity across the Kingdom in advance of its co-hosting of the 2030 World Cup. Ryanair’s investment in Rabat will also create over 800 local jobs, including 60 highly paid jobs for pilots and cabin crew.

Ryanair’s new Rabat base from Summer ’26 will deliver:

• 7 new intl routes (Milan Bergamo, Baden-Baden, Frankfurt Hahn, Nuremberg, Porto, Pisa and Valencia)
• 20 routes total
• 2 new based aircaft (US$200m investment)
• Supporting over 800 local jobs (incl. 60 highly paid pilots and cabin crew jobs)

This base opening will increase Rabat S26 capacity by +45% and is an important part of Ryanair’s record Summer 2026 schedule across 13 Moroccan airports, delivering over 10.7m passengers to, from, and now within the Kingdom.

Ryanair’s investment in Morocco now exceeds over US$1.6bn in aircraft – supporting over 8,500 direct and indirect jobsand delivering economic growth across 13 cities including Rabat, Marrakesh, Fez, Agadir, Tetouan, Essaouira, Dakhla and Nador.

Ryanair’s CEO, Eddie Wilson said:

“We are delighted to officially launch our new base at Rabat, which represents a US$200 million investment and our fifth Moroccan base. This latest base opening is part of our record S26 schedule which will see Ryanair operate over 20 routes incl. 7 new international routes to/from the Kingdom, boosting tourism and connectivity.

Our latest base opening takes Ryanair’s total investment in Morocco to over US$1.6bn, supporting over 8,500 direct and indirect jobs and delivering growth in the local tourism economy. We look forward to continuing to support Morocco’s economy as well as international connectivity, by positioning Rabat as a leading Summer destination with its rich history, vibrant culture, stunning coastline, and welcoming atmosphere.

Ryanair wishes to renew our sincere thanks to His Excellency Mr. Aziz Akhannouch, Head of Government of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, his Ministers of Transport and Tourism, Mr. Abdessamad Kayouh and Ms. Fatim-Zahra Ammor, as well as Mr. Achraf Fayda CEO of the Moroccan National Tourist Office for their vision and trust in securing this record investment for Morocco. Together we will continue to develop Morocco’s infrastructure, connectivity and tourism in advance of the Kingdom’s co-hosting of the 2030 World Cup, all of which will be underpinned and stimulated by Ryanair’s legendary low fares and industry leading punctuality”.

To mark the base opening, we are launching an unmissable seat sale, with prices from 319 MAD for travel until 31^st of May, available to book now via the Ryanair App.”

DAA 10% FEES INCREASE DAMAGES IRELAND’S TRAFFIC, TOURISM & JOBS

Ryanair, Europe and Ireland’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 17 Dec) condemned DAA’s decision to raise its already high airport fees by 10% from 2026. DAA is again abusing its monopoly to force passengers into funding its €3bn gold-plated CAPEX programme, including unnecessary projects like DAA’s €280m “tunnel to nowhere” – a nonsensical project at Dublin Airport – paid for by passengers through higher airport fees, yet it delivers zero benefit to them.

Dublin Airport’s 10% fee hike in 2026 is the opposite of what competitor countries, like Sweden, Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia are doing, where Govts and airports are abolishing aviation taxes and lowering airport fees to promote airline investment and deliver traffic, tourism, and jobs growth.

Irish tourism is already suffering under two stupid traffic caps at Dublin Airport – which Micheál Martin’s “do nothing” Govt continues to dither over, and this latest unjustified Dublin Airport fee hike will damage Irish traffic and tourism even more.

Ryanair calls on the DAA to stop wasting money and instead cut costs to grow Ireland’s traffic, tourism, jobs, and economy.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“DAA has jumped at the first opportunity to hike its already high prices by another 10% to cover its gold plated €3bn CAPEX programme, which it won’t deliver any extra capacity or growth. It’s bad enough that Micheál Martin’s “do nothing” Govt (with a 20-seat majority) has still not scrapped the Dublin Airport traffic cap, despite promising to do so “as soon as possible” last January. Now Dublin Airport is raising fees by 10% in 2026 so they can build tunnels to nowhere which is driving up costs for passengers simply because it’s a monopoly.

Instead of wasting money on unwanted tunnels, the DAA should lower its high fees to grow Irish tourism, jobs – not penalise airlines and passengers with higher fees. Ryanair calls on the DAA to stop wasting money on ridiculous €280m tunnels and instead lower fees to grow Ireland’s connectivity and tourism, before it switches elsewhere in Europe where airports are lowering fees to promote airline investment and low-fare growth.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Tues, 16 Dec) announced that it has carried 35 million passengers through Birmingham Airport since it began operations to/from the airport in 1987.

This winter, Ryanair is operating 346 weekly flights across 37 routes to/from Birmingham Airport, including winter sun hotspots like Alicante, Faro and Malta, as well as top city break destinations like Berlin, Poznań and Rovaniemi.

Ryanair’s full Winter 2025 schedule is available to book now at Ryanair.com, with flights to/from Birmingham Airport available from as little as £29.99.

Ryanair’s Director of Comms, Jade Kirwan, said:

“We’re delighted to mark 35 million Ryanair passengers through Birmingham Airport since Ryanair began operations to/from Birmingham in 1987. This significant milestone showcases Ryanair’s continued support and investment in the region, delivering important connectivity, traffic, tourism, jobs, and economic growth.

This winter, Ryanair is operating a robust schedule to/from Birmingham Airport with 346 weekly flights across 37 routes, including top city break destinations like Berlin, Poznań and Rovaniemi, as well as winter sun hotspots like Alicante, Faro and Malta. Ryanair’s full Winter 2025 schedule is available to book now at Ryanair.com, with flights to/from Birmingham Airport available from as little as £29.99.