BUSINESS NEWS


Ryanair chief Michael


O’Leary will “continue to pursue OTA pirates”, but


the airline’s deals this week follow a drop in profits in the fourth quarter of last year


fourth quarter of last year


Ryanair’s surprise OTA deals will suit both sides


Carrier signs agency agreements with loveholidays and Kiwi.com. By Ian Taylor


News of agency agreements between Ryanair and loveholidays, and the airline and Kiwi.com, in the past week came as a surprise. Ryanair and Europe’s leading online


agencies (OTAs) have been locked in legal battles for years, with tension ratcheting up during the pandemic. As recently as November, Ryanair


boss Michael O’Leary denounced Kiwi as “Europe’s biggest OTA pirate”, while Kiwi joined Expedia, eDreams, Booking.com, lastminute, Skyscanner and On the Beach in August in demanding UK regulators take


56 1 FEBRUARY 2024


enforcement action against Ryanair, accusing it of “unfair” treatment of customers booked through third parties and breaching data protection rules. The agreements are unlikely to


signal an end to the struggle, with Ryanair asserting on Monday: “We continue to pursue OTA pirates like On the Beach, lastminute, eDreams, Opodo and Booking.” Travel Weekly does not have


details of the agreements, but they won’t be hard on Ryanair. Several factors will have led to them. Ryanair made a notable admission


in quarterly results on Monday. Reporting a sharp fall in profits for the three months to December, the carrier blamed not only “higher fuel costs” but “softer yields” after cutting prices following “the sudden [but welcome] removal of flights from OTA pirate websites in early December”. O’Leary has previously admitted


underestimating how many Ryanair bookings come through OTAs, conceding in 2021 that “it was


Continued on page 54 travelweekly.co.uk


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