Ryanair on Thursday announced a 8%
reduction in its services to and from the Italian island region
of Sardinia this winter.
The airline said the move is a direct result of a recent
government decision to cap fares to Sicily and Sardinia.
In total 10 routes have been affected including three that have
been cancelled, Ryanair said.
"Unfortunately, I am here to announce something that we
certainly would not have wanted," Chief Commercial Officer Jason
Mc Guinness told reporters in Cagliari.
"A reduction of almost 10% compared to the planned schedule is
entirely linked to the Italian government's decree, which we
consider totally illegal and which will only have the effect of
reducing connectivity," he added.
In early August the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni
approved a
decree clamping down on the use of algorithms to set flight
prices amid claims that they were responsible for soaring fares
in recent months, especially for services connecting the
mainland to Sicily and Sardinia in the absence of alternative
road or rail links.
The decree bans the algorithms if applied to connections to
Sicily and Sardinia; if applied to peaks in demand linked to
seasonal factors; and if they lead to the price of tickets or
accessory services being 200% higher than the average price.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson immediately blasted the measure as
"ridiculous, illegal and interfering with the free market,
according to European law", and called for it to be cancelled.
The European Commission said it had asked for clarifications
from Rome, adding that price capping is rarely an effective
means of achieving affordable prices.
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