Ryanair today confirmed plans to distribute through GDSs by the summer as part of a plan to broaden its distribution base.
The disclosure by chief executive Michael O’Leary came as the budget carrier reported a third quarter loss of €35.2 million despite passenger numbers rising by 6% to 18.3 million.
Revenue per passenger declined 6%, as strong ancillary revenue growth offset a 9% fall in fares.
However, the airline, which introduced allocated seating on all flights on Saturday, said its full-year profit guidance remained unchanged at about €510 million, with carryings of 81.5 million passengers.
Overall revenue for the three months to December 31 was flat at €969 million but the airline dropped into the red, having achieved a profit of €18.1 million in the same period in 2012.
O’Leary said: “We are in active negotiations with a number of GDS suppliers, and hope, subject to the successful conclusion of these discussions and IT integration issues, that Ryanair’s low fares and comprehensive route network will appear in one or more GDS channels by mid-year.
“The combination of Ryanair’s low fares, extensive route network at primary and secondary airports and number one or number two market share in most of Europe’s major travel markets, will enable Ryanair to deliver a significant business travel platform, and allow Europe’s largest businesses to save both time and money by flying Ryanair.”
The carrier is in the process of overhauling its website and distribution as part of a series of customer service initiatives.
Ryanair is also working to broaden its distribution base by becoming the first low-fares airline to partner with Google’s European ‘Flight Search’ function, which is currently available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Holland and Spain, with more countries to follow.
O’Leary said: “We believe that Google’s ‘Flight Search’ engine will become the transparent price comparison site of choice for all passengers in Europe.”
Addressing the quarterly figures, he said: “Our Q3 loss of €35 million is in line with previous guidance and is entirely due to a 9% fall in average fares and weaker sterling.
“We responded to this weaker pricing environment last September with seat promotions and lower fares which stimulated traffic across all markets resulting in 6% growth in Q3, and a 1% rise in monthly load factors.
“Ancillary revenues grew by 13%, significantly faster than traffic growth due to strong customer uptake of reserved seating, priority boarding, and higher credit card fees.
“Excluding fuel, Q3 sector length adjusted unit costs fell 9% as Ryanair continues to deliver industry leading cost control.”