Spanish OTA hails interim Court ruling against Ryanair

Ryanair and online travel agency (OTA) group eDreams Odigeo have ramped up their pan-European legal battle with claims of competing court victories.

EDreams hailed a victory in Barcelona today after the city’s Commercial Court issued an interim order that Ryanair cease “denigrating behaviours” towards eDreams Odigeo and its Prime subscription programme ahead of a full hearing.

Spain-based EDreams also reported “a legal victory against Ryanair in Germany, where Courts have ordered the airline to cease multiple anti-consumer and misleading practices”.

However, Ryanair itself celebrated a legal victory against eDreams in Germany last week after the Berlin Regional Court ruled in favour of the airline in court action against eDreams “and its overcharging website”.

Ryanair noted the Berlin Court ruled eDreams’ payment service fees “excessive and therefore unlawful”, its Flexfare offer to passengers “misleading”, and granted Ryanair an injunction against eDreams’ Prime terms and conditions.

The carrier insisted it would continue “to expose eDreams Prime as another overcharging scam perpetrated by this OTA Pirate against consumers”.

EDreams accused Ryanair of “a long-term smear campaign against the Company and its Prime programme” at the Barcelona hearing, arguing the airline made “multiple false claims to mislead consumers and compete unfairly” in violation of unfair competition law.

It claimed the Barcelona court decision “builds on a previous definitive ruling” by the Spanish Supreme Court “which mandated the airline to halt its denigration and anti-competitive behaviour towards eDreams Odigeo”.

The company accused Ryanair of a “defamation strategy” against OTAs, aimed “to coerce competitors into signing anticompetitive and anti-consumer distribution agreements”.

Ryanair has signed distribution agreements with most leading OTAs since the turn of the year and claimed: “EDreams is the last significant OTA Pirate in Europe still illegally scraping Ryanair’s website and still overcharging unsuspecting consumers for air fares and ancillary services.

“Almost all other significant EU OTAs have now signed up to Ryanair’s Approved OTA agreements.”

EDreams noted Ryanair is under investigation by the competition authority of Italy (AGCM) for alleged abuse of market dominance and suggested: “Data protection authorities from several European countries are probing Ryanair’s discriminatory practices towards customers – in the UK, France, Spain, Belgium, and Poland”.

The company also reported: “French courts recently issued a sentence against the airline for violating passenger rights regulations, [including] infringing consumer rights, failing to compensate for flight cancellations and delays, and engaging in deceptive and aggressive practices.”

It argued: “The legal and regulatory pressure on Ryanair for its anti-consumer practices is evidenced by the landmark fine imposed by the Spanish government – estimated at €100 million.”

In fact, the government in Madrid imposed fines totalling €150 million on four airlines, including Ryanair, in May over “abusive” charges for cabin baggage and seating, which the carriers are due to appeal.

EDreams reported the Barcelona court ordered Ryanair to cease using terms such as “scam”, “deception” and “pirate” in reference to eDreams and its Prime service.

However, Ryanair chief marketing officer Dara Brady said: “We call on eDreams to cease this anti-consumer overcharging and sign up to Ryanair’s Approved OTA distribution agreement.

“This will guarantee consumers real Ryanair prices for seats and ancillary services and deliver real customer contact and payment details to Ryanair instead of fake email addresses and fake card payments.”

Brady suggested: “The reason eDreams won’t sign is because they prefer to keep overcharging consumers, especially with their worthless Prime membership scam.”