Ryanair this morning (12 Apr) dismissed the false claims of OTA Pirate, eDreams, who repeatedly fail to explain why they are unlawfully scraping Ryanair’s website and harming consumers by overcharging them for reserved seats (+216%), 10kg bags (+99%) and fees for non-existent services (€17.99 for “Premium” service).

Ryanair also called on eDreams to address the January 2024 Milan Court of Appeal ruling which found;

• Ryanair is not in a dominant position in Italy.
• The OTA Pirate claims of abuse are false.
• Ryanair’s direct sales policy is “reasonable”.
• Ryanair’s sales policy has led to lower costs and lower fares for Italian consumers.
• No evidence of any abuse of a dominant position was found.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“Overcharging Spanish OTA Pirate, eDreams, has lied to and misled the AGCM. While eDreams continue to scam and overcharge Italian consumers, they falsely claim that their business “cannot survive” unless they are allowed to digitally pirate the Ryanair.com website when eDreams can at any time sign an “Approved OTA” deal with Ryanair as long as they agree to stop overcharging. At the same time, this Spanish OTA Pirate’s CEO told his shareholders in Feb that they won’t sign an “Approved OTA” deal with Ryanair because they can source their flights on a worldwide basis.

These false claims of OTA Pirate, eDreams, were conclusively dismissed by the Milan Court of Appeal in Jan 2024. eDreams should now explain to the AGCM why it won’t sign Ryanair’s “Approved OTA” deal, because they are unwilling to stop overcharging consumers. The rotten business model of eDreams depends on overcharging unsuspecting consumers as Ryanair’s April OTA Pirate survey has exposed (see below).

EDREAMS’ APRIL OVERCHARGES
PRODUCT	ED PRICE	RYR PRICE	OVERCHARGE
Res. Seat	€25.24	€8.00	+216%
10kg bag	€39.42	€19.79	+99%
“Premium” Fee	€17.99	€0	€17.99

Ryanair calls again on the AGCM to respect the Milan Court of Appeal ruling precedent, which found that Ryanair was not in a dominant position in Italy, that Ryanair’s direct sales policy created no consumer harm because it led to lower costs and lower fares for Italian consumers. Instead, the AGCM should investigate eDreams’ unlawful digital piracy of the Ryanair.com website and the daily consumer harm being done by this Spanish OTA Pirate for overcharging Italian consumers for Ryanair flights and Ryanair ancillary products, as well as inventing fees for its  non-existent “Premium” services. The AGCM has a legal duty to protect Italian consumers from overcharging OTA Pirates like eDreams and others. They should now take action against these OTA Pirate overcharges by eDreams.”