Belgian Court Orders Ryanair to Halt Certain Marketing Tactics

Court Ruling Against Ryanair's Marketing Strategies

BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A Belgian court has ordered Ryanair to end some of its commercial and marketing practices for flights sold in the country in a case brought by a local consumer association. 

Background of the Case

The court ruling comes after regulators in several European countries recently tried to curb Ryanair's aggressive pricing policies in a challenge to its business model, which hinges on very low ticket prices while charging for extras that were traditionally included in the price.   

Details of the Court's Decision

In a ruling issued on January 28 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, the Brussels enterprise court said Ryanair must stop practices such as announcing discounts on fake reference prices, deceptively telling potential customers that seats at certain prices are close to running out or disclosing fees for luggage for one leg of a trip and not the other.

Potential Penalties for Non-Compliance

Local consumer association TestAchats brought the case, which also sought to strike down a series of other practices, such as charging for large cabin luggage or charging parents to book a seat beside their children, but these were upheld.

The company would have to pay a penalty of 5,000 euros ($5,895.00) per day if it does not comply, the court ruled. 

Neither Ryanair nor TestAchats immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Italian competition authority fined the budget airline $300 million for abuse of its dominant position in its dealings with travel agents two months ago, and the Spanish consumer rights ministry fined it 108 million euros for charging for larger cabin bags.

The company said it would appeal in both cases.

($1 = 0.8482 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)