Italy’s highest administrative court has annulled a 4.2 million euro fine imposed on Ryanair over flight cancellations during the Covid pandemic. The ruling said the airline suffered discriminatory treatment when the competition authority rejected its proposed commitments without dialogue.
The Council of State found the AGCM had acted in a way that was incompatible with the principles of coherence, reasonableness and non-discrimination. Ryanair said the decision raises serious questions about the regulator’s impartiality and its treatment of the airline.
The case adds to a long-running dispute between the Irish carrier and Italy’s competition watchdog. Ryanair has separately appealed a much larger 256 million euro penalty imposed in December 2025 over its direct distribution policy.
The latest judgment is a setback for the AGCM, which fined Ryanair in 2021 over cancellations linked to the pandemic. The court said the regulator had breached key principles of administrative and competition law by handling Ryanair differently from other airlines.
In a statement quoted in the article, Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said: “This ruling raises serious questions about the impartiality of the AGCM and the treatment it has given to Ryanair.”
He added: “These findings badly damage its reputation and clearly contextualise the unusual 256 million euro fine it imposed on us in December 2025 for our direct distribution policy, ignoring the previous ruling by the Milan Court of Appeal, which found that the model benefits consumers.”
Ryanair said it believes the separate 256 million euro fine is also flawed and expects Italian courts to overturn it. Mr O’Leary also called on Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, to urgently reform the AGCM so that it acts fairly and in the best interests of consumers.
The dispute is one of several recent legal and regulatory battles involving the airline in Europe. Ryanair has often argued that competition authorities and governments have treated it differently from rival carriers.
The Council of State decision marks a notable legal victory for the airline at a time when European carriers continue to face scrutiny over customer rights, pricing and sales practices. The case also highlights the tensions that can emerge between low-cost airlines and national regulators during major disruptions such as the Covid pandemic.
Ryanair’s criticism of the AGCM centres on what it sees as inconsistent enforcement. The airline says the regulator refused to discuss its proposed remedies in 2021, while taking a different approach with other airlines named in the case.
That argument was accepted by the court, which said the authority had failed to act consistently and fairly. The ruling could strengthen Ryanair’s position in its other challenge against the 256 million euro fine.
The outcome is significant for travellers as well as airlines because it touches on how regulators deal with flight cancellations, consumer protection and airline business models. It also shows that legal disputes over pandemic-era decisions are still working their way through European courts years after the crisis began.
