Booking, Kiwi… why Ryanair plane tickets are no longer on sale at certain travel agencies

Certaines agences de voyages ne vendent plus de billets de la compagnie Ryanair. https://imagebroker.com/9774026

Ryanair plane tickets have suddenly disappeared from certain online travel agencies. The airline has been denouncing online travel agencies for several months, accusing them of charging additional fees to clients.

Online travel agencies including Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak stopped offering Ryanair flights on their platforms in early December due to legal and regulatory pressure, the Irish airline said Wednesday.
In a press release, Ryanair believes, however, that this decision should not significantly impact its traffic or its pre-tax profit forecast for the 2024 financial year.

The percentage of empty seats per flight is expected to increase by 1% or 2% in December and January, she added.
On the Dublin Stock Exchange, Ryanair shares fell 2.9% at 09:30 GMT.

The airline welcomed the decision of travel agencies described as "pirates" which it accuses in particular of charging additional fees to customers or of preventing direct communication with customers.

Pressure from national consumer protection agencies ?

According to her, this decision could be linked to pressure exerted by national consumer protection agencies, to new customer verification measures or even to the recent decision of the Irish High Court d' prohibit "screen-scraping" of its data, or illegal copying of data.

Elsewhere, Ryanair said on Wednesday that the average proportion of empty seats per flight in December had increased to 9%, compared to 8% in the same month last year.

The airline says it carried 12.5 million passengers in December, an increase of 9% compared to December 2022, despite the cancellation of more than 900 flights due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.