Ryanair to pay $871,000 fine in Budapest

Published: April 11 2023

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The Budapest Court of Appeal has ruled against Ryanair’s appeal against the consumer protection fine of HUF300 million forints (USD871,000), which was imposed on the airline for passing the windfall profit tax to the passengers.

The airline had lodged an appeal in Hungary as well as the European Union stating the fine as “baseless.” However, the Budapest Court of Appeal rejected Ryanair’s is bid to overturn the decision.

Ryanair has expressed concerns and repeatedly demanded that the Hungarian government scrap the windfall profit tax placed on airlines, banks, insurers, energy and telecoms companies, and large retail chains.

The windfall tax charges them between EUR10 to EUR25 per departing passenger, which has resulted in extra profit for these companies. The tax is targeted in the wake of the war in Ukraine to compensate consumers for inflation and to fund further defence spending.

Ryanair’s consumer protection violation fine is still not legal; the court’s next decision is awaited. The court has decided that the airline will not receive immediate legal protection. However, it is required that Ryanair should have shared the costs of overhead protection and national defence, given that the economic situation resulting from sanctioned inflation requires multinational companies to contribute their share of costs. Ryanair has not yet responded to the court’s decision implications.