Ryanair Wants EU Watchdog To Check Lufthansa Price-Fixing

Ryanair has filed a complaint to EU antitrust regulators about alleged talks between Lufthansa’s Italian unit Air Dolomiti and three Italian airlines to fix prices, the chief legal officer of Europe’s biggest budget airline said on Thursday, June 25.

The complaint also cites alleged price fixing in Austria involving Lufthansa’s local unit Austrian Airlines, reported Reuters. 

“I can confirm that the price fixing cartel complaint was filed with the European Commission,” Ryanair’s Juliusz Gomorek told reporters.

“In Austria, where Lufthansa has a subsidiary, in the context of the bailout of that subsidiary, we have government officials talking about potentially introducing minimum prices,” he said.

Earlier this month, Austria announced it would introduce a minimum ticket price of on average €40 (US$44.90), a shot at budget airlines’ heavy discounts and following its €450 million (US$505.1 million) bailout of Lufthansa’s Austrian Airlines.

Gomorek also pointed to Italy “where Lufthansa has its subsidiary, we have that subsidiary talking about getting together with three other airlines to discuss and maybe agree what price levels they may feel comfortable at.”

Full Content: Reuters

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