The National Civil Aviation Authority sends the first € 35,000 fine to Ryanair and could also present a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office: the low cost continues to ask for an extra expense to seat children close to parents and people with disabilities to accompanying persons. “From the initial investigations carried out to verify whether the airlines have adapted to the regulatory provisions of the authority, it appeared that Ryanair has not yet proceeded to adapt the IT and operating systems to ensure that the supplement to the cost of the airline ticket is not paid. assignment of seats close to the carers of minors and the disabled », the body said in a note.
The accusation
The result is that on the Ryanair website “passengers who need to travel alongside minors and people with disabilities still have to pay a supplement to get nearby seats”. The carrier – continues the note – “has only modified a contractual provision, difficult to perceive by the passenger, which allows them not to pay or to obtain reimbursement of the increase in the price paid on the ticket, only after a complex procedure, evidently elusive of the Enac regulation and contrary to the provisions of the TAR “. The Courier service requested a reply from the Irish carrier without obtaining a reply at the time of publication of the article.
Flight simulation
In fact, simulating the purchase of a Milan Malpensa-Palermo flight for 24 August (one adult, two children), the Courier service notes that those who book are still asked to pay the extra € 6.60 for the choice of seat, but immediately above it is written: “If the selected rate does not include reserved seats, at least one adult must purchase a seat (for a price between 4 and 6 euros or the equivalent in local currency) and children must sit next to adults, “it says. But “once your reservation is complete, please visit here to request a refund of the price paid for the seat.” In short: the customer must first pay the extra, then ask for a refund.
The reactions
“It is disconcerting how Ryanair continues to implement aggressive commercial practices that do not take into account either the ENAC rules or the single-law decree of the TAR,” attacks the state lawyer Pierluigi Di Palma, president of ENAC. “These are behaviors based solely on the carrier’s profit that do not protect the rights of passengers and do not comply with safety regulations”. In the note, the body makes it known that “the procedure signed by the general manager Alessio Quaranta to impose a penalty of 35 thousand euros on the defaulting carrier is ready”. Not only. “Enac is considering whether to present a complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Ryanair’s failure to comply with judicial orders, based on the provisions of article 650 of the criminal code”.
The appeal to the Tar
The new rule, envisaged by ENAC with an emergency measure, came into force on August 15 to guarantee, without having to pay any supplement, the free allocation of seats to minors and people with reduced mobility close to their children. parents and / or carers. Non-compliant carriers risk fines between 10 and 50 thousand euros “without having to initiate a dispute procedure, contrary to what is necessary in the event of a notification by passengers”, the body said. Ryanair had tried through the legal channels to stop the modification, but the Lazio TAR on 5 August had rejected the low cost request to postpone the deadline to comply with the urgent provision of the Enac.