The National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAV) has announced that it has filed a formal complaint against Ryanair with the Competition Authority (AdC), accusing the airline of practices that are harmful to the sector and to end customers.

In a statement, the association states that, in the complaint, it denounces “practices of discrimination, abuse of a dominant position, potential violation of GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] and lack of support for people with disabilities, among others”, on the part of the Irish airline.

“The document denounces several practices considered abusive and which have long harmed passengers throughout the country, with a particular focus on Porto and Faro airports, where Ryanair has clear dominance over the majority of routes”.

Among the various allegations presented by ANAV are difficulties created in the management of refunds for customers, the mandatory facial scanning if it is necessary to verify the customer, problems related to charging for hand luggage and the “practically non-existent” support for passengers with disabilities.

Still being questioned are the charging of extra amounts for adults traveling with children, the refusal or near impossibility of booking reservations by travel agencies and the “clear control over reservations on most available routes” resulting from the number of ‘slots’ that the company was gaining ground, especially at Porto and Faro airports, due to the growth of its operations.

“In other words – claims ANAV – a passenger who wants to travel from the aforementioned airports has no other option than to submit to the practices carried out by Ryanair and this constitutes a clear abuse of a dominant position”.

Quoted in the statement, the president of the association considers it natural to formalise this complaint: “Even as a businessman in the sector and, therefore, also working with Ryanair, I have no alternative, as president of ANAV, other than to denounce practices that have been going on for a long time harming travel agencies and, consequently, end customers”, says Miguel Quintas.

According to Qunitas, the objective of ANAV is precisely to be more interventionist in issues “vital for the future of the sector”.

“And this is a battle we have been fighting since the first day of our term and will certainly continue until the end of it. In fact, before taking this more drastic measure, we took the precaution of sending two letters to Ryanair management explaining the different points that we considered unacceptable, in an attempt to build a joint solution. However, as we did not receive any response, the only option they gave us was to move forward with this complaint,” he concludes.

According to an official source, the association represents "more than 10% of the national market" of travel agencies, including Consolidador.com, Godiscover and Repartir Viagens.