"Ryanair" and the new fines: between strict rules for passengers and sanctions from regulators

Budget giant "Ryanair" has been building its business model for years on low base prices and a wide network of fees and additional services – from paid seat selection to strict hand luggage control. In recent months, the company has not only tightened its own sanctions arsenal against passengers, but has also come under fire from European regulators, who have imposed some of the largest fines in history for abuse of market power and unfair online practices.

500 euro fine for unruly passengers and bonuses for "caught" baggage

In 2025, "Ryanair" officially announced the introduction of a fine of 500 euros for "disruptive" passengers – those whose behavior leads to their removal from the flight. The company explained the measure with the need to protect the "calm and stress-free travel" of the other passengers and crew, stressing that such incidents are a small share, but create disproportionate problems.

In parallel, British media revealed that some "Ryanair" employees receive an additional bonus for each passenger caught with "oversized" hand luggage at the gate – about 1.50 euros per person, with a monthly ceiling of about 80 euros. Thus, the staff is financially motivated to strictly apply the rules for dimensions and charge additional fees, which explains the observed "zeal" when checking baggage.

Record sanctions in Italy: 255 million euros for abuse of market power

While the airline tightens discipline towards customers, it itself is facing ever more serious accusations from regulators. At the end of 2025, the Italian antitrust commission AGCM imposed a fine of about 255–256 million euros on "Ryanair" for abuse of a dominant position in its relations with travel agencies. According to the regulator, the carrier deliberately made it difficult or blocked the ability of agencies to offer its flights together with those of other airlines or in a package with additional services.

In its decision, AGCM describes a "complex strategy", which began at the end of 2022 and intensified after April 2023: introduction of mandatory facial recognition verification for reservations through agencies, blocking payments from online platforms, mass deletion of accounts and, ultimately, the imposition of partnership agreements that limit their freedom to combine "Ryanair" flights with other services. The Italian regulator concluded that these practices not only strengthen competition with intermediaries, but in fact deny them access to the market.

"Ryanair" rejected the sanction as "legally wrong" and announced its intention to appeal, but the fine remained one of the most striking examples of a clash between the aggressive commercial strategies of low-cost carriers and the competition rules in the EU.

Belgian court: unfair online practices and a threat of daily fines

At the beginning of 2026, the Belgian authorities added new pressure on "Ryanair". The Commercial Court in Brussels ruled that a number of the company's online practices – including so-called "pressure selling" – violate consumer law. The court ordered the airline to change the way it sells tickets and additional services on its website within three months or face daily fines of 5,000 euros, up to a maximum of 1 million euros.

Among the convicted practices are hidden baggage fees, where the full price for registered baggage is not clearly shown and for the round trip, as well as marketing messages of the type "only five places at this price", which, according to the consumer organization Test Achats, mislead passengers and pressure them to buy hastily. The decision confirms long-standing complaints that the complex online interfaces of low-cost companies often hide the real final price.

Growing list of regulatory battles across Europe

The Italian fine and the Belgian court decision are not isolated cases. In recent years, "Ryanair" has accumulated a series of lawsuits and sanctions in various jurisdictions – from disputes over fees for online check-in and payment by card, to accusations of violating the rights of passengers on cancelled flights. A German court recently fined the carrier for failing to comply with a court order related to booking conditions, and in Spain the company is facing additional sanctions for serious violations of consumer rights.

Critics claim that Ryanair's aggressive style – from public campaigns against "pirate" online agencies to the constant "fine-tuning" of the fine print in tariffs – brings it short-term revenue, but also long-term reputational and regulatory risk. Supporters of the model insist that the strict rules and fees allow millions of passengers to fly at prices unattainable for traditional airlines.

How far can the budget model go

The new fines and court decisions raise the question of where the line is between a "tough but honest" low-cost model and practices that violate competition and mislead customers. For passengers, this means an even greater need to read the terms and conditions carefully – from the size of hand luggage to booking options through intermediaries.

For "Ryanair" and the other budget carriers, the next few years will likely be a test of whether they can maintain their price advantages while adapting to a stricter regulatory environment. If the airline does not readjust some of its practices, the risk is that the list of fines will grow as quickly as the number of flights in its network.