Ryanair has accused online agent On the Beach of screen scraping fares and said it has begun legal action for breach of the terms of use of its website.
The carrier claimed to have received more than 300 complaints from passengers booked with On the Beach and in a statement advised passengers to avoid booking with the retailer.
Ryanair said passengers “have not received e-mail reminders about web check-in requirements and have had to pay the boarding card reissue fee of €60/£60 because of the non-existent or inadequate service provided.”
The carrier said it has initiated legal action for breach of Ryanair.com’s terms of use and intellectual property rights.
A Ryanair spokesman said: “Online travel agents or screen scraper websites continue to cause problems for passengers.
“Many of these sites fail to pass on vital information to both passengers and Ryanair regarding flight changes, web check-in, special needs assistance and contact details, which has resulted in missed flights and repeated problems for customers.”
On the Beach rejected Ryanair’s claims. The retailer’s chief market officer Alistair Daly said: “On the Beach is one of 36 OTAs across Europe against which Ryanair, within the past four years, has either issued or lodged proceedings with the Dublin High Court.
“We are aware Ryanair has written to a number of other high-profile UK OTAs outlining similar allegations but has not yet commenced proceedings against these businesses.
“We are disputing Irish jurisdiction and, in any event, will robustly refute the allegations made by Ryanair.
“We categorically deny that there is any basis to these allegations and believe we have fully dealt with all the issues outlined in our correspondence with them [Ryanair].”