Ryanair to Fight New HUF 300 Million Fine for 'Unfair Commercial Practice' in Hungary
- 9 Aug 2022 12:33 PM
- Hungary Around the Clock
The consumer protection authority has levied a fine of Ft 300 million on Ryanair, because the low-cost airline raised ticket prices in response to the imposition of a windfall tax on airlines.
Justice Minister Judit Varga announced on Facebook yesterday that this constitutes unfair commercial practice against consumers.
Ryanair said it will challenge the fine, describing it as baseless, and said it will appeal the case to the EU courts, if necessary.
It added that it has not yet received any official notification of the fine.
After the government announced the tax in June, to take effect on July 1, Ryanair announced that it would collect this amount from all of its passengers who fly after that date, regardless of when they bought their ticket.
CEO Michael O’Leary derided the tax at the time as “beyond stupid”, as airlines had generated losses in the past two years due to the pandemic, and said it would hurt tourism.
The company said yesterday that an EU regulation allows all EU airlines to freely set fares for flights within the EU without interference from national governments or consumer protection agencies.
It said EU law prohibits the government from introducing retroactive travel taxes, and that the government “is attempting to unlawfully limit the right of airlines to pass on such unjustified taxes to passengers".
Analysts expect Ryanair to make a €1.2 billion net profit this year, Portfolio adds.
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