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		</div><p>Hungary has accused Ryanair of consumer protection violations and fined it more than £600,000 after the budget carrier raised ticket prices to cope with a tax on what the government calls “extra profits” of industries ranging from airlines to banks.</p>
<p>Justice minister Judit Varga wrote on Facebook that an investigation against Ireland-based Ryanair started in June and found “unfair trade practices”, triggering a fine of 300 million Hungarian forints (£643,000).</p>
<p>The fine is the first tied to the tax, which led Ryanair and others to increase prices and set off a clash with the industry. Hungary has said costs should not be passed to customers.</p>
<p>Ryanair said it will “immediately appeal any baseless fine” but added that it has not received notice of one.</p>
<p>It pointed to European Union law allowing airlines to set fares for flights within the 27-nation bloc without interference from national governments and said it will appeal to EU courts if needed.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing nationalist government says industries from banking to insurance to airlines that have enjoyed “extra profits” arising from soaring demand after the Covid-19 pandemic should contribute to the country’s economic recovery.</p>
<p>His government blames the war in Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia for woes like the rocketing energy prices, its currency weakening to record levels and inflation reaching 12.6% in June.</p>
<p>The government has said it hopes the tax will raise 815 billion forints (£1.74 billion) to maintain a programme that reduces people’s utility bills and bolsters the military.</p>
<p>The economic problems “require that whichever multinational companies that make extra profit should pay their share of the costs of the overhead protection and the national defence”, Ms Varga wrote.</p>
<p>Economists have said some targeted industries like fossil fuels and banking are making higher-than-usual profits, but most are not.</p>
<p>Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has called the tax “highway robbery” and “idiotic”, calling on the government to end it.</p>
<p>Ryanair, easyJet and Hungary-based budget carrier Wizz Air have said they will add around 10 euros (£8.40) to each ticket to cover the costs of the new tax.</p>
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