Ryanair has disclosed an exceptional charge of €85 million ($101 million) in its third-quarter figures, to account for a contested fine imposed by Italy’s competition regulator.

The regulator, AGCM, had penalised Ryanair last year with a €256 million fine after accusing the budget carrier of exploiting a dominant market position.

It alleged that Ryanair attempted to obstruct travel agencies that tried to purchase flights through the airline’s website.

“Both we and our Italian legal advisors are confident that the courts will overturn this AGCM ruling on appeal,” says Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary.

But the airline has nevertheless taken an exceptional charge of €85 million to cover one-third of the penalty.

Ryanair generated a pre-exceptional net profit of €115 million for the third quarter – down by more than 20% on the previous year’s figure – and this fell substantially, to just €30 million, when accounting for the fine allocation.

But the airline is optimistic about full-year performance, lifting its expectation on passenger numbers slightly, to nearly 208 million, owing to “strong demand” and earlier Boeing aircraft deliveries.

Although the fourth quarter will not include a lift from the Easter 2026 holiday period, the airline believes that fares will exceed prior growth expectations.

Ryanair says it is “cautiously” forecasting a pre-exceptional net profit of €2.13-2.23 billion.