MILAN COURT OF APPEAL RULES
IN FAVOUR OF RYANAIR
DIRECT DISTRIBUTION MODEL
OTA PIRATE CLAIMS OF ABUSE OF
DOMINANCE DISMISSED
Ryanair today (16 Feb) welcomed this
weeks Milan Court of Appeal judgment, which conclusively dismissed
claims by Italian OTA Pirates, including Lastminute.com and
Viaggiare, wrongly claiming that Ryanair's online distribution
model was an abuse of a dominance in the Italian market.
The Milan Court conclusively
rejected these claims and ruled that Ryanair's direct distribution
model was justified
"in terms of containing operating costs and
eliminating the costs associated with intermediation in ticket
sales. This has contributed to the application of competitive fares
- which undoubtedly benefit consumers as well - and to the
possibility of having a direct channel of communication with them
for any possible need for information and updates on flights.
No harm to users, therefore, was
established…"
Ryanair welcomes this Italian Appeal
Court ruling against OTA Pirates, which helps Ryanair
protect Italian consumers from price gouging and
mis-selling by these OTA Pirates who unlawfully scrape the
Ryaniar.com website, and then overcharges unsuspecting consumers
with inflated air fares, overpriced ancillary services, and in some
cases they charge service fees or refund fees when no "service" or
"refunds" are provided.
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:
"This ruling by the Milan Court of Appeal is a comprehensive
victory for Ryanair's direct online distribution model. The
Milan Court has rejected claims by OTA Pirates who are trying to
insert themselves between Ryanair and the consumer, so they can
overcharge consumers for Ryanair's fares and ancillary services.
Since the start of internet distribution, Ryanair has invested in
its lower fare direct distribution to consumers via the Ryanair.com
website, which ensures that all consumers receive the lowest
available Ryanair prices at all times. We will continue to fight
these screenscraping OTA Pirates who seek to overcharge
unsuspecting consumers, and in many cases, charge them for
non-existent service or refund fees.
Ryanair has in recent weeks reached distribution agreements
with a number of approved OTA's, such as loveholidays, Kiwi, and
TUI, and these approved OTA partners now receive a direct feed from
the Ryanair.com website in return for agreeing no screenscraping
and no overcharging of consumers when selling Ryanair air fares or
ancillary services. We expect to extend these approved OTA
agreements to other OTA's over the coming weeks. We will continue
to try to end the illegal screenscraping by OTA Pirates as well as
ending their overcharging, while protecting consumers from these
Pirate pricing scams. This week's Milan Court ruling was a
significant victory for Ryanair and consumers over these OTA
Pirates, and we hope this ruling will accelerate the day when EU
Governments and their consumer agencies outlaw digital piracy,
overcharging and mis-selling by these OTA Pirates in the air travel
market."
ENDS
For
further information
please
contact:
Ryanair Press
Office
Tel: +353-1-9451799
press@ryanair.com