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 (12 Jul) announced it is seeking candidates for several exciting engineering opportunities, including sheet metal workers, B1 and B2 engineers, aircraft mechanics, and officer-based engineering roles as the airline continues to grow to carry 300m passengers by 2034.

To help find the perfect candidates for these exciting new engineering roles, Ryanair is holding an open day at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast on Wednesday (17 July) at 12:30. This informative event will allow candidates to meet Ryanair’s talented teams and learn about the airline, its growth plans, staff travel benefits, excellent salary packages and fantastic career opportunities.

Interested candidates should register at careers.ryanair.com

EUROPE’S NO.1 AIRLINE ADDS 2 AIRCRAFT, 15 ROUTES AND 50% GROWTH ACROSS LAMEZIA TERME, REGGIO CALABRIA, AND CROTONE AIRPORTS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT OCCHIUTO’S SCRAPPING OF TAX

Ryanair, Europe and Italy’s No.1 airline, is thrilled to respond to the Calabrian region’s forward-thinking and innovative decision to abolish the Italian State’s Municipal/Tourist Tax with today’s (11 July) announcement. This strategic move will see the addition of an extra Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme (US$200m investment), and the introduction of new routes across all three Calabrian Airports (Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria).

Ryanair welcomes President Occhiuto’s pragmatic approach, transforming Calabria into the region with the lowest access costs in Italy. Italian regions like Calabria and Friuli Venezia-Giulia are scrapping the burden of the municipal tax, unlocking the full touristic potential of their regions. It is now time for all regions, but most specifically Sicily and Sardinia, to scrap this regressive tax, which is levied on all passengers, adults, and children.

Ryanair in response of scrapping the municipal tax will deliver:

• 4 based aircraft (US$400m tot. invest.) – 2 a/c in Reggio Calabria & 2 a/c in Lamezia Terme
• 50% growth (to 1m passengers)
• 15 new routes for the Region
• Supp. over 1200 jobs in the Region
• Record capacity, connectivity, and low fares for Calabria Region

Ryanair will deliver immediate growth for coming winter season including 11 new routes. 7 from Reggio Calabria to London Stansted, Brussels Charleroi, Milano Malpensa, Pisa, Frankfurt Hahn, Katowice and Paris Beauvais; 2 from Lamezia to Tirana and Brussels Charleroi; and 2 from Crotone to Venice Treviso and Turin. Additionally, for Summer’s 25 Ryanair will deliver additional 4 new routes from Lamezia Terme to Trieste, Madrid, Wroclaw and Bucharest.

In Catanzaro, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“We are thrilled to announce Ryanair’s significant investment and expansion in the Calabria region, following President Occhiuto’s forward-thinking decision to abolish the municipal tax. This strategic move enables us to rapidly increase our capacity in the region, adding an additional Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme, launching new routes across the Region.

Our Winter 2024 schedule for Calabria will deliver 82% growth compared to Winter 2023, with three based aircraft and a total investment of $300 million. Furthermore, we plan to base another aircraft in Lamezia Terme for Summer 2025, bringing our total to four based aircraft in the region and increasing our total investment to $400 million. This will deliver 50% growth next year for the region, supporting over 1,200 jobs and contributing to the economic growth of the region by enhancing tourism, improving connectivity, and offering lower fares to both citizens and visitors.

Ryanair now calls on all Italian regions to scrap this regressive tax. Sicily and Sardinia in particular should follow the positive example of Calabria and revolutionise their connectivity by scrapping the tax. Ryanair could deliver an additional 3 million seats annually to Sicily and 2 million to Sardinia, transforming connectivity on a year-round basis, as we did in Trieste and will now do in Calabria.

To celebrate this remarkable growth in Calabria, we have launched a three-day seat sale with fares starting from €29.99, available exclusively at ryanair.com. We look forward to welcoming millions of passengers on board our flights to and from Calabria, experiencing the benefits of our investment and the region’s progressive policies.”

President Roberto Occhiuto said:

“We are truly proud of the great attention that Ryanair, the leading low-cost airline in Italy and Europe, continues to give to our Region.

For the upcoming winter season, there will be an extraordinary increase in connections to and from Calabria, with many European and Italian cities, and this represents the well-deserved recognition for the efforts we have been making over the past two and a half years to continuously increase the flow of tourists to our Region.

Today, we are very happy to once again host Eddie Wilson in Calabria, not only a great CEO but a friend with whom we want to develop and grow air routes within our airport system, across all three regional airports, and create the ideal conditions for visitors to experience the best of travel in Calabria and share it with many new tourists.

For this reason, our commitment is also linked to improving accessibility and internal mobility services, as demonstrated by the agreement reached just a few weeks ago with the automotive services company Uber.

We are confident that thanks to the air transport policies we are implementing and the significant investments made by companies like Ryanair in our airports, the coming months will not only see an exponential increase in tourists in Calabria, but also significant growth in economic and employment terms throughout our territory.”

Marco Franchini, SACAL Airport CEO, said:

“From August 1st, with the abolition of the municipal surcharge, Calabria will be able to offer advantageous rates for the airports of Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria. An historic and innovative decision achieved through the determination of President Roberto Occhiuto, that, together with the infrastructural transformation of the airports, has identified the Calabrian airport system as the absolute protagonist of the region’s economic development”.

Following unprecedented demand from fans, Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 airline, today (11 July) added over 1,500 extra seats to/from Berlin ahead of the highly anticipated Euro 2024 Championship Final taking place between England and Spain this Sunday (14 July).

Ryanair’s Head of Comms, Jade Kirwan said:

“To facilitate the unprecedented demand from England fans looking to cheer on the Three Lions in the Euro Championship Final against Spain in Berlin this Sunday (14 July), we’ve added over 1,500 extra seats between London Stansted and Berlin. These extra flights are expected to sell out quickly, so avoid disappointment and book now at ryanair.com.”

Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 airline, today (10^th July) announced that it has carried over 30 million passengers through Birmingham Airport since it began operations to/from Birmingham in 1987. Ryanair was the first low-cost airline to operate at Birmingham Airport and has grown its presence from a single route to/from Knock to a 50-route operation connecting 17 countries across Europe, underpinned by Ryanair’s 7 Birmingham based aircraft – an investment of $700m and supporting over 2400 local jobs.

This Summer Ryanair is operating its biggest ever schedule at Birmingham Airport with over 400 weekly flights across 50 routes, including 9 new routes to Agadir, Berlin, Budapest, Marrakesh, Paphos, Paris, Seville, Tirana and Valencia,

providing customers with unbeatable choice at the lowest fares when booking their Summer ’24 getaways while driving invaluable inbound tourism for Birmingham at the same time.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan said:

“We are delighted to celebrate over 30 million Ryanair passengers through Birmingham Airport. This significant milestone resounds Ryanair’s continued growth and investment in Birmingham, with 7 aircraft based at Birmingham Airport this Summer – an investment of $700m and supporting over 2400 local jobs.

This Summer Ryanair is operating our biggest ever schedule to/from Birmingham Airport with over 400 weekly flights across 50 routes, including Ryanair’s 9 new summer sunshine routes to Agadir, Berlin, Budapest, Marrakesh, Paphos, Paris, Seville, Tirana and Valencia. We look forward to carrying millions more passengers on Ryanair’s low-fare flights to/from Birmingham over the years to come.”

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.”