An online travel agency (OTA) has failed in its bid to strike out a lawsuit brought against it by Ryanair (FR, Dublin International). In a decision welcomed by the airline, Ireland's Court of Appeal dismissed the application by OTA On The Beach during a July 17 hearing.
"We welcome this court ruling which ensures that justice will be pursued without undue obstacles," said Ryanair's marketing director, Dara Brady. "Ryanair does not have a commercial relationship with On The Beach, and we strongly object to On The Beach selling our flights."
According to The Irish Times, the matter dates back to 2010 when Ryanair sued the OTA for bundling its flights into holiday packages, saying On The Beach had no permission to do so, that it infringed the terms and conditions of its ticket sales, and copyright in its database.
Aside from defending its position, UK-based On The Beach questioned the jurisdiction of the Irish courts to hear the matter, a question settled in Ryanair's favour in 2015 by the High Court and later, the Supreme Court. The case lay dormant until 2021, when the OTA went back to the courts asking for it to be struck out because of the time-lapse, arguing Ryanair did not intend to proceed with the case but preferred to use the existence of the case and its claims of screen scraping fare data to smear it. Ryanair opposed the application.
A June 2022 High Court ruling criticised Ryanair's delay in proceeding with the matter but said the balance of justice "clearly favours the continuance of the proceedings." This week's ruling dealt with On The Beach's appeal of this decision.
The three-judge Appeals Court bench did not consider the time lag question as that was not part of this appeal. Instead, it looked at whether it would be just to dismiss the proceedings. Ruling against the OTA, the judges said that On The Beach's case was "really very weak" and that there would be explicit prejudice against Ryanair if they dismissed the case.
Brady said the decision reinforced the low-cost carrier's determination to "pursue justice to ensure our customers get the best Ryanair service and the lowest fares." A spokesperson for On The Beach told ch-aviation that they were disappointed by the result. "It is worth highlighting the status quo in the underlying action has not changed, and the case merely continues,” the spokesperson said.
Ryanair has an established history of preventing or attempting to prevent unauthorised third parties, including OTAs, from selling its tickets. It also makes the sale process cumbersome for authorised resellers, preferring to drive potential passengers to its booking portal. Consequently, the airline has become embroiled in a series of long-running claims and counterclaims against various entities, with varying degrees of success.
