Hungary’s supreme court upholds $545,000 fine on Ryanair

The Curia of Hungary, the country’s supreme court, has upheld an earlier decision of the Budapest municipal government office, according to which Ryanair must pay a HUF200m forint (US$545,000) fine due to an alleged violation of consumer protection laws, the municipality said in a statement on October 15. An “official consumer protection procedure” the Budapest municipal government office launched in April 2020 found that the low-cost carrier had “failed to provide and inform” passengers about the delay of a flight from Budapest to Gran Canaria on February 18 of the same year, committing “an unfair commercial practice.” The government office underlined in its short statement that its task as a consumer protection authority is to protect passengers who have been treated unfairly by an airline. Ryanair has also been facing a separate consumer protection fine in Hungary, for HUF300m (US$818,000), related to a departure tax the national government imposed last year. However, in early June 2023, a ruling by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest annulled this fine, confirming that the airline could lawfully pass the tax on to consumers in line with European Union regulations, a judgement Ryanair welcomed.<br/>