Ryanair has suffered a drop in revenue since December 2023, when major online travel platforms suddenly removed the Irish company’s flights from their sites.. Despite recording a decline of 1% to 2% compared to previous months, the company welcomed the platform’s move and announced new discounts for passengers who purchase tickets directly on its official website.
The online travel agencies involved, such as Booking or Kiwi, did not explain the reasons for the sudden cancellation of flights. According to Ryanair, it could be the result of the work of consumer protection agencies or as a result of a recent decision by the Irish Supreme Courtwhich issued a permanent injunction against Ryanair’s illegal data collection by these platforms.
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Therefore, in his official statement society talked about one “welcome the removal of our flights from the websites of pirate travel agencies”, which accused them of imposing hidden fees and markups on customers who rely on their services. The news comes as a lawsuit is pending in the United States that Ryanair initiated against Booking and all its subsidiaries such as Kayak, Agoda and Priceline.
The company subsequently explained that it would respond to the change “reducing fares where necessary to encourage all passengers to book directly on Ryanair.com, where they are guaranteed to always get the lowest prices without online travel agency overcharging, false contact information or other price or refund scams“. It will continue to be possible to purchase tickets for Rynair flights on platforms that, according to him “they add no hidden costs” like Google flights.
The company is therefore not affected by the actions of online travel agencies that they represent only one “small part” of all Ryanair bookings, however, grew by 9% year-on-year., according to the latest published report. The company also claimed that it would not affect its financial forecast for 2024 either.