JURY RULES THAT BOOKING.COM VIOLATED U.S. COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT (CFAA) WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD RYANAIR

JURY DISMISSES BOOKING.COM’S COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST RYANAIR ARGUING DEFAMATION, AND UNFAIR COMPETITION

Ryanair Holdings Plc, today (Fri 19 Jul), welcomed the unanimous verdicts of the jury in the Delaware District Court, which last evening unanimously ruled in favour of Ryanair’s claims that Booking.com had violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, causing loss to Ryanair. The jury also ruled that Booking.com had done so knowingly with “intent to defraud”, and that Ryanair had suffered economic harm as a result of Booking.com’s unlawful screenscraping activity.

The Delaware Court jury also dismissed all Booking.com’s counterclaims against Ryanair, which included claims for defamation, unfair competition, and deceptive trade practices. These Delaware Court rulings prove that Booking.com was knowingly engaged in unlawful screenscraping of the Ryanair.com website, with an intent to defraud Ryanair. Ryanair has long complained about the deceptive practices of OTA Pirates like Booking.com, who used intermediate software providers to scrape Ryanair’s website, and then use this information to overcharge consumers for Ryanair air fares and/or ancillary services but mask these anti-consumer practices by making bookings using fake customer emails and fake customer payment cards.   

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair and our customers warmly welcome yesterday’s unanimous jury ruling in the Delaware Court, which comprehensively (found in favour of Ryanair, proving that the travel industry giant Booking.com had illegally “scraped” Ryanair’s website, and did so with an intention to defraud both Ryanair and ordinary consumers, which was in breach of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. We expect that this ruling will end the internet piracy and overcharging perpetrated on both airlines and other travel companies and consumers by the unlawful activity of OTA Pirates like Booking.com.

It is unacceptable that global giants, like Booking.com (mkt cap $133 billion), have been engaged in these illegal and deceptive practices for many years with the intent to defraud both Ryanair and consumers. Ryanair has fought to protect consumers and ensure that they have direct access to Ryanair’s low fares, and our low-price ancillary services without OTAs, like Booking.com and others, inserting themselves into this relationship in order to overcharge unsuspecting consumers who believe they are booking directly with Ryanair, but in fact are being duped into booking (at inflated prices) via these OTA Pirates like Booking.com.  

We also welcome the Delaware Courts rejection of Booking.com’s counterclaims that they had been defamed by Ryanair when calling them an OTA Pirate. We hope these Delaware Court rulings will now see an end to OTA Pirates illegally screenscraping travel websites like Ryanair.com, and will force consumer agencies across the UK and Europe to finally take action to outlaw this illegal screenscraping and over charging of consumers for flights and ancillary services.

This ruling is a great victory for low fare air travel, and it’s a great win for the travelling public as well. We sincerely thank the District Court of Delaware and the jury for their ruling, which completely vindicates Ryanair’s case against Booking.com on behalf of our customers. We now call on Booking.com’s vastly overpaid CEO Glen Fogel ($46m pay in 2023) that he and his company will cease scraping the Ryanair.com website and stop overcharging consumers with inflated air fares and ancillary services, now that Booking.com has been found to be in breach of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (18 July) announced its latest “Approved OTA” partnership with one of the world’s largest travel technology companies, Expedia Group. This collaboration enables Expedia Group to offer Ryanair’s low fare flights to its travellers, enhancing traveller choices and experiences for those seeking value and convenience.

This is great news for Expedia Group travelers who wish to book Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 240+ destinations, and impeccable service. Simplifying the booking process, travellers booking Ryanair flights via Expedia Group have the option of a holiday package or standalone booking, with a path to Ryanair. This ensures Expedia Group travellers have access to their myRyanair account and essential flight updates directly without needing to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process. Travellers can expect to book Ryanair flights directly through Expedia Group in the coming months.

Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady said:  

“We are pleased to announce our latest “Approved OTA” partnership with global travel tech leader, Expedia Group. Through this new agreement, Expedia Group travellers will be able to book Ryanair’s low-fare flights as part of their holiday packages or standalone bookings, with the guarantee of full price transparency and full access to their booking. We look forward to working with Expedia Group and carrying their customers onboard our market-leading network of Ryanair flights in the coming months.”

Expedia Group’s SVP for Trips Partnerships, Susan Spinney said:

“This marks a significant step in our partnership with Ryanair. Earlier this year, we collaborated on ‘Ryanair Rooms,’ allowing Ryanair travelers to seamlessly book a hotel alongside their flight. Soon Ryanair flights will be available directly on Expedia Group’s marketplace, expanding the way travelers’ benefit from this powerful combination. Ryanair’s extensive network of budget-friendly flights, together with Expedia Group’s comprehensive travel offerings, creates an unbeatable value proposition for travelers seeking affordability and convenience.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (9^th July) announced its latest “Approved OTA” partnership with Etraveli Group – a world-leading air content tech platform, which includes well-known OTA brands like Mytrip, Gotogate and Flightnetwork – who will now be authorised to offer Ryanair’s low-fare flights to their customers.

This partnership is great news for Etraveli Group’s customers throughout Europe who want to book Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 240+ destinations, and impeccable service. Similar to Ryanair’s existing “Approved OTA” agreements, this latest deal guarantees consumers who book Ryanair flights through Etraveli Group´s platforms, that their correct contact and payment info is provided to Ryanair, ensuring that they have access to their myRyanair account and receive important flight information directly process.           

Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said:

“We are pleased to announce our latest “Approved OTA” partnership with Etraveli Group and its OTA brands, including MyTrip, Gotogate and Flightnetwork, which will enable Etraveli Group’s customers to book Ryanair’s low-fare flights with the guarantee of full price transparency and full access to their booking. We look forward to working with Etraveli Group over the years to come and carrying their customers onboard our market-leading network of Ryanair flights.”

Etraveli Group’s CCO, Johan Elwin, said:

“We are excited to partner with Ryanair and look very much forward to this collaboration. This partnership not only strengthens our position but also benefits our customers by providing them with seamless access to Ryanair’s extensive network. It aligns with our ambition to offer the world’s best air content to our customers and partners both in and outside Europe. By leveraging our advanced tech solutions, including Virtual Interlining, we aim to enhance the travel experience and drive the future of air travel.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (5^th July) announced its latest “Approved OTA” partnership with leading global online travel agent (OTA), lastminute.com, who will now be authorised to offer Ryanair’s low-fare flights as part of their dynamic holiday packages and flights.

This milestone partnership is great news for consumers throughout Europe who want to access Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 240+ destinations, and impeccable service as part of a package holiday. Similar to Ryanair’s existing “Approved OTA” agreements this latest deal guarantees lastminute.com customers who book Ryanair flights/ancillaries as part of their holiday package, or stand-alone flight, that their correct contact and payment info is provided to Ryanair, ensuring that they have access to their myRyanair account and receive important flight information directly without needing to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process, which unauthorised OTA customers must continue to do.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We are pleased to announce our latest “Approved OTA” partnership with global OTA giant, lastminute.com. This milestone partnership is great news for consumers as lastminute.com will now be authorised to offer Ryanair’s low-fare flights as part of their dynamic holiday packages and flights, putting them in stark contrast to the unauthorised OTAs who continue to overcharge customers with hidden mark-ups and provide fake customer contact and payment information to Ryanair. We look forward to working with lastminute.com and carrying their customers onboard our Ryanair flights throughout the years ahead.”

CEO of lastminute.com, Luca Concone, said: 

“As the European Travel-Tech leader in Dynamic Holiday Packages, we know this partnership with Ryanair will grant flexibility, choice and value for customers looking for the best holidays and flights.

We look forward to working closely with Ryanair.”

GROWTH OF 11% OVER JUNE 2023

FIRST EVER MONTH TO EXCEED 19M GUESTS – (AUG 23 WAS 18.9M)

            Ryanair Holdings plc today (Wed, 5 Jun) released May 2024 traffic stats as follows:

RYANAIR’S LOW FARE FLIGHTS NOW AVAILABLE TO KIWI CUSTOMERS

Following the announcement of their “Approved OTA” partnership in Jan last, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 29^th May) announced that its low fare flights are now available to book as part of Kiwi bookings just in time for the peak Summer holiday season. For Kiwi customers who wish to book Ryanair flights/ancillaries, this exciting new partnership means;

• Customers benefit from Ryanair’s low fares combined with Kiwi’s virtual interlining service.
• Customers receive all flight-related communications directly from Ryanair, including T&Cs and important flight updates.
• Customers have direct access to their myRyanair account to manage their booking.
• Customers don’t have to complete Ryanair’s customer verification.

Over the past few months, Ryanair has signed “Approved OTA” distribution agreements with six large OTAs, including this partnership with Kiwi, demonstrating how OTAs can work transparently with Ryanair to benefit consumers.

Speaking from Prague, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“We’re delighted to be in Prague with the Kiwi team today to launch a partnership with Ryanair flights now being available to Kiwi customers to book with full price transparency (no overcharges or hidden mark-ups) and direct access to their booking through their myRyanair account, which is great news for Kiwi customers.

With the peak summer season just around the corner, we look forward to seeing lots of happy Kiwi customers onboard our low fare Ryanair flights not only from our 4 Czech airports to 39 destinations, but right across Europe.”

Kiwi.com co-founder & CEO, Oliver Dlouhý, said:

“We couldn’t be more proud that the largest airline in Europe chose Kiwi.com as their first OTA partner for booking flights, recognising our investments in our product and customer experience. Our cooperation with Ryanair reflects our commitment to establishing relationships with airlines for the benefit of customers and our long-term business objectives.”