A Belgian court has ordered Ryanair to end some of its commercial and marketing practices for flights sold in the country while upholding others in a case brought by a local consumer association.
The court ruling comes after regulators in several European countries recently tried to curb Ryanair’s aggressive pricing policies in a challenge to its business model, which hinges on very low ticket prices while charging for extras that were traditionally included in the price.
In a ruling issued on January 28 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, the Brussels enterprise court said Ryanair must stop practices such as announcing discounts on fake reference prices, deceptively telling potential customers that seats at certain prices are close to running out or disclosing fees for luggage for one leg of a trip and not the other.
Local consumer association Testachats brought the case, which also sought to strike down a series of other practices, such as charging for large cabin luggage or charging parents to book a seat beside their children, but these were upheld.
“We welcome this clear and comprehensive ruling confirming – once again and in line with EU and national courts across Italy, Germany, Spain, and the EU Court of Justice – that Ryanair’s cabin bag policy is fully compliant with EU law,” Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady said in a statement.
Testachats plans to start talks with Ryanair’s lawyers and the talks will determine if it appeals the ruling, spokesperson Laura Clays said on Tuesday.
Ryanair will have to pay a penalty of €5,000 per day if it does not comply, the court ruled.
The Italian competition authority fined the budget airline more than €255 million for abuse of its dominant position in its dealings with travel agents two months ago, and the Spanish consumer rights ministry fined it €108 million for charging for larger cabin bags.
Ryanair said it would appeal in both cases.
