eDreams ODIGEO welcomed the interim measures issued against Ryanair, which mandates an immediate halt to its denigrating practices. This pre-trial order by the Barcelona Commercial Court No. 12 is based on compelling evidence that Ryanair has engaged in a long-term smear campaign against the Company and its Prime programme, disseminating multiple false claims to mislead consumers and compete unfairly, in violation of Article 9 of the Unfair Competition Law (LCD). The Court has acknowledged the urgent need to approve the measures due to Ryanair’s ongoing denigrating statements against eDreams and its products.
The judge has determined that Ryanair’s lies against eDreams and eDreams Prime are a “perfectly organised campaign designed to promote Ryanair.com for booking flights and associated services”. According to this ruling, this campaign is denigrating advertising as it gives consumers false information about eDreams and eDreams Prime.
This decision builds on a previous definitive ruling, confirmed by the Spanish Supreme Court, which had already mandated the airline to halt its denigration tactics and anti-competitive behaviour towards eDreams ODIGEO.
Ryanair’s defamation strategy, which has also targeted multiple other online travel agents, aims to coerce competitors into signing anticompetitive and anti-consumer distribution agreements. This tactic is also intended to deflect scrutiny from Ryanair’s own abusive practices and ongoing investigations by authorities across Europe.
Ryanair’s anti-consumer practices under scrutiny
eDreams ODIGEO has long championed consumer rights against Ryanair’s anti-consumer practices and is actively leading or participating in multiple cases against the airline in defence of consumers. One such case involves antitrust proceedings in Italy for alleged abuse of market dominance. This case, supported by eDreams ODIGEO and the vast majority of the Italian travel industry, including federations, trade bodies representing thousands of travel businesses, and consumer associations, prompted Ryanair to launch a smear campaign targeting the complainants, particularly eDreams and its Prime programme.
The Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) defined Ryanair’s actions as a smear campaign aimed at dissuading consumers from using travel agents, highlighting the airline’s use of false and misleading claims.
Additionally, data protection authorities from several European countries are probing Ryanair’s discriminatory practices towards customers. These investigations in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium, and Poland include allegations of privacy-invasive practices that breach GDPR, such as requesting unnecessary biometric data and imposing additional fees on consumers based on their booking channel of choice.
Recently, eDreams ODIGEO celebrated a legal victory against Ryanair in Germany, where the courts ordered Ryanair to cease multiple anti-consumer and misleading practices in which it currently engages. This includes charging consumers for the use of specific payment methods, lacking transparency in providing the final price throughout the booking process, requiring consumers to create a user account to purchase tickets, enforcing Irish laws and Courts to European consumers, and automatically selecting agreement to terms and conditions without active selection from the user, among others.
The legal and regulatory pressure on Ryanair for its anti-consumer practices is further evidenced by the landmark fine imposed by the Spanish government—estimated at around 100 million euros according to consumer bodies. This fine is the highest ever issued by Consumer Protection authorities to a single business, 17 times larger than the previous record. Additionally, French courts have recently issued a severe sentence against the airline for deliberately violating passenger rights regulations. This includes infringing on consumer rights, failing to compensate for flight cancellations and delays, and engaging in deceptive and aggressive practices.
eDreams ODIGEO remains committed to defending consumers and protecting them from Ryanair’s anti-consumer approach.