DI PALMA AGAIN MAKES FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT “OLIGOPOLY” IN ITALY AND AN ABSENCE OF LOW FARES WHEN RYANAIR SELLS 12M SEATS IN S24 AT FARES OF €29.99 OR LESS

Ryanair, Italy’s No.1 airline, today (2^nd Apr) calls on ENAC President Pierluigi Di Palma to step down as President of ENAC following his latest false claims that there is an “oligopoly” in Italy or that “low cost airlines no longer exist” or even more absurdly that low fares “will never be there again”.

Mr Di Palma’s latest embarrassing statements come less than 12 months after he made more false claims about airlines in Italy “working together” to raise air fares, false claims about non-existent €1,000 air tickets, and false claims about non-existent algorithms that airlines were using to work out which mobile phones passengers were using.

Mr Di Palma clearly has no idea what an oligopoly is. Ryanair has sent him a book “Economics for Dummies” so he can learn that an oligopoly is a market where a small number of suppliers work together to constrain supply and raise prices. In the Italian market, Ryanair, which has less than 40% market share (not 51% as Di Palma wrongly claims), is growing its seat capacity by 10% in 2024, and lowering air fares for millions of Italian consumers.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:  

“Contrary to Mr Di Palma’s latest false claims, Ryanair will offer over 29m seats to/from and within Italy in its Summer 2024 schedule. Just over 12m of these seats (over 40%) are being sold at prices of €29.99 one-way or less. Over 15m seats (over 50%) are on sale at fares of €39.99 or less. Mr Di Palma repeatedly makes false claims, which mislead the Italian Govt and citizens about the air travel market in Italy. He is clueless about air transport, which is why he continues to make these stupid and embarrassing claims. Perhaps he should learn economics, and then stop making false claims about a non-existent “oligopoly” in Italy when Ryanair continues to increase seat supply and lower air fares.

Ryanair has written again to Mr Di Palma calling on him to step down and asking him to correct his latest false claims that low fare airlines “no longer exist” in Italy. He should step aside and let somebody competent (who actually understands economics) Chair ENAC. In the meantime, we have sent Mr Di Palma a textbook “Economics for Dummies” so that he can inform himself to what an oligopoly actually looks like. While Mr Di Palma claims he can’t find a low fare Ryanair flight in Italy, more than 12 million Italian consumers will in Summer 2024 snap up Ryanair fares of €29.99 or less. Thanks to intense competition, Ryanair continues to grow capacity in Italy and continues to offer low fares to millions of Italian citizens and visitors while Mr Di Palma continues to embarrass himself and ENAC with his idiotic and false claims.”