Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (27 May) welcomed the Paris Court of Appeal ruling against Lastminute – which operates the Lastminute.fr website – confirming the Order of the Court of First Instance – ordering the immediate cessation of Lastminute’s unlawful selling of Ryanair flights in France subject to a daily fine of €1,000.

The Court also confirmed that Lastminute pay Ryanair €50,000 for free riding without Ryanair’s consent on Ryanair’s website, and ordered that Lastminute pay €10,000 for Ryanair’s legal costs (in addition to €10,000 for Ryanair’s costs in first instance). 

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We welcome this Paris Court ruling upholding Ryanair’s right to determine its own distribution model which is guaranteed under the constitutional freedom of trade and industry in France. Ryanair’s direct to customers distribution model provides our customers with the best choice, care, and lowest fares while allowing us to ensure that flight safety, security, and public health protocols are complied with. We again urge consumers to book directly on the Ryanair website, the only place to find the lowest Ryanair fares.  We will continue our campaign against screenscrapers, many of whose business models depend on mis-selling Ryanair fares at inflated prices (or with hidden mark ups) to unsuspecting consumers.”