Ryanair May Take Legal Action Against Italy's Civil Aviation Authority

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

14 April 2005

Speaking in Rome this week, chief executive of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary announced that the low cost airline is considering legal action against the Italian civil aviation authority (ENAC) over the alleged bias shown towards the country's flagship airline, Alitalia.

According to Mr O'Leary, ENAC has reused to grant Ryanair access to the prized Rome-Alghero route in an attempt to protect Alitalia's market share. He revealed that some 10,000 seats had already been sold on the flights between Rome and Sardinia, and threatened to provide the disgruntled passengers with the contact details of the aviation authority and the Italian Transportation Ministry.

"We have written to ENAC, asking the concession of the slots. Now we are pressing to have a response by the end of the week," he announced, continuing: "There is no explanation for the behaviour of ENAC, which has no right to interfere in competition between Ryanair and Alitalia."

The Ryanair boss went on to suggest that the authority was "trying to prevent competition and the lowest tariffs on this route".

However, ENAC reportedly countered by questioning the wisdom of selling tickets for an unauthorised route, and explained that it had not refused access to the slot, merely asked Ryanair to modify its operating plan in certain areas.

"In the specific case of Ryanair, ENAC acted only according to the indications coming from the ministry," it concluded.

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