Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, has emerged victorious in a US lawsuit against Booking.com, a travel booking giant, over allegations that the site and its affiliates engaged in illegal “slicing” of flight prices on Ryanair's website such as The airline itself announced On your channels.
Until recently, Dublin-based Ryanair refused to market its flights through online travel agencies and fare aggregators, forcing passengers to book directly through Ryanair's official website.
The company has taken a stand against online travel agencies that have tried to circumvent this restriction by using technology to “scrape” airfare prices from Ryanair's website and then present them to customers as if they were authorised to do so.
Ryanair accused these online travel agencies of increasing prices and adding additional fees that made the purchase more expensive than buying direct.
In 2020, Ryanair filed a lawsuit against US-based Booking.com in a Delaware court, accusing the company of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
On Thursday, a jury unanimously ruled in favor of Ryanair, also concluding that Booking.com had “deleted” Ryanair's website in order to defraud the airline.
In another blow to Booking.com, the jury also rejected the company's quid pro quo claim against Ryanair, which sought to allege that the airline had defamed the company and was engaging in unfair competition and deceptive business practices.
““It is unacceptable that global giants like Booking.com (market cap $133 billion) have been engaged in these illegal and deceptive practices for so many years with the aim of defrauding both Ryanair and consumers.”Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary was criticised on Friday.
“We hope these Delaware court decisions will put an end to the illegal delisting of OTAs from travel sites like Ryanair.com, and force consumer protection agencies across the UK and Europe to finally take action to stop these illegal delistings from overcharging consumers for flights and ancillary services.O'Leary added.
Booking.com was originally founded in Amsterdam, but is now listed on the Nasdaq and headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company also owns Priceline.com, Agoda.com and Kayak.com, all of which are accused of illegal “deletion” on Ryanair’s website.
In recent months, Ryanair has softened its stance towards online travel agencies, signing agreements with some of the biggest players in the market, who now have official access to Ryanair ticket prices.
In return, Ryanair claims that these companies pledged not to overcharge consumers, while also supposedly agreeing to pay Ryanair a commission. On the same day as the Delaware court ruling, Ryanair announced that it was ending its most recent deal with Expedia Group, and expanding its business with companies such as Lastmine.com and Onthebeach.com.
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