Ryanair has called out ‘harmful practices’ used by online travel agencies, which the airline claims are over-charging tourists across Europe.
The budget airline is embroiled in a long-running dispute with online travel agents (OTAs), complaining that they charge customers too much for Ryanair flights.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair group chief executive, previously accused the OTAs of being ‘internet pirates who are duping and scamming customers’.
The budget carrier released its online travel agency survey this week, calling out firms such as eDreams, Tix, and Vola for inflating costs by up to 176 per cent for products such as reserving a seat or adding extra baggage.
Ryanair is demanding EU governments act quickly to protect ‘unsuspecting’ tourists from being overcharged.
A sample of Ryanair’s survey found eDreams to be the ‘worst offender’, selling a reserved seat for £13.65 instead of Ryanair’s price of £4.94 – a 176 per cent markup.
The firm also charged £23.57 for adding a 10kg bag to a booking, a 108 per cent increase from Ryanair’s £11.31 price.
Online travel agency Tix was discovered to be selling reserved seats for £15.24 and 20kg bags for £39.69 – a 67 and 40 per cent surcharge.
Ryanair has called out ‘harmful practices’ used by online travel agencies, which the airline claims are over-charging tourists across Europe
The budget airline is embroiled in a long-running dispute with online travel agents (OTAs), complaining that they charge customers too much for Ryanair flights
Vola charged £21.77 for both priority boarding and a 10kg bag, opposed to Ryanair’s price of £14.80 and £14.79, which equates to a 47 per cent overcharge.
‘Despite this evidence of consumer harm, many EU governments and Consumer Protection Authorities, most notably Spain’s useless Consumer Minister Bustinduy, do nothing to prevent this harm to thousands of Spanish consumers as a result of this overcharging,’ said Ryanair’s Dara Brady.
‘EU Govts and Consumer Protection Authorities, including Spain’s useless Consumer Minister, have taken zero action to prevent this overcharging, which continues to harm consumers across Spain and the EU.’
Brady went on to call on EU governments and consumer protection agencies to ‘take action’ and address the OTA overcharges, arguing they impose ‘avoidable additional costs for consumers across Europe’, particularly in Spain.
Ryanair historically shunned OTAs, accusing them of overcharging, false advertising, and misleading customers with hidden fees and fake email addresses. Ryanair boss O’Leary was a vocal critic of these platforms.
Just 20 years ago, O’Leary predicted the online travel agency Expedia would soon be gone, and Ryanair actively opposed online travel agents.
But in 2024, Ryanair launched the ‘Approved OTA’ program to regain control over distribution and pricing.
In April this year, the Expedia Group partnered with Ryanair to list its flights directly via API integration, allowing for direct access to customer accounts and flights within the Expedia platform.
The budget carrier released its online travel agency survey this week, calling out firms such as eDreams, Tix, and Vola for inflating costs by up to 176 per cent
This agreement reverses Ryanair’s previous anti-OTA stance, which included banning bookings from third-party websites due to concerns about overcharging and customer data issues.
When approached by the Daily Mail, an eDreams spokesperson said: ‘As Courts and competition authorities have already found, this is simply a denigration campaign designed by Ryanair to compete unfairly.
‘Despite clear court orders requiring them to stop, they continue to use these anti competitive tactics.
‘Ryanair should comply with the Court’s order to publicly retract its false statements and cease its denigration campaign. Compliance with the law is not optional.’
The Daily Mail has also gone to Tix and Vola for comment.
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