Tui is to offer Ryanair flights for the first time as part of holiday packages.
The expected dynamic packaging deal sees Tui become Ryanair’s third approved OTA partner, alongside Loveholidays and Kiwi.
Tui will display Ryanair fares without hidden mark-ups and provide correct customer contact and payment details to the airline.
The operator’s customers will continue to benefit from flexible payment plans and Atol protection, with more than one million additional flights available a year via Ryanair.
They will no longer need to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process which unauthorised OTA ‘pirates’ customers must continue to do, the airline said.
The Ryanair flights complement the already extensive and growing range of Tui’s own flights and existing connections with partner airlines.
The option of booking Ryanair flights as part of Tui holidays will be gradually introduced in the coming weeks and will cover all routes “relevant to tourism”.
The flights can be combined with Tui’s hotel offers both in travel agencies and online.
Tui Group said: “With this co-operation, Tui is significantly expanding the variety and frequency of its flight offerings, particularly in the UK. Travellers will benefit from even more destinations and greater flexibility, with millions of new combination options.
“The partnership with Ryanair will be particularly beneficial for the First Choice brand, which re-launched in the UK last September. The additional volume and flexibility of flights will make it significantly more attractive to the new younger generation of travellers. The First Choice proposition offers a range of trips from five-star resorts, hotels to hostels, premium and low-cost airlines, as well as interesting and unique experiences.”
Tui Group chief strategy officer and holiday experiences chief executive Peter Kruger said: “The new agreement follows the group’s strategy of greater digitalisation of the business segments. In the past financial year, the number of dynamically packaged trips at Tui already grew to over 2.5 million.
“The co-operation with Ryanair will now further expand the range of dynamically packaged Tui holidays and at the same time achieve a further milestone in digitalization. In addition, the cooperation also contributes to our growth strategy – the aim is to achieve additional growth through more products and new guests.”
Tui’s markets and airlines division chief executive David Schelp added:“More hotels, more flight connections, more excursions, and activities while travelling and at home – we are creating even more choice for our guests.
“The agreement we have now reached will create more travel options for our guests than ever before.
“In the UK in particular, our guests will be able to choose from an even wider range of flights in future – and furthermore to a strong programme with Tui Airline’s own flights.”
Ryanair marketing and digital director Dara Brady said: “We are pleased to announce this partnership with Tui, which will enable Tui customers to now book Ryanair flights, seats, and bags as part of their holiday package with the guarantee that they will have full price transparency of Ryanair products, and that they will receive any information regarding their flight directly from Ryanair as well as having direct access to their booking through their myRyanair account.
“This deal separates Tui from the ‘OTA pirates’ who continue to dupe and scam consumers by unlawfully screenscraping Ryanair’s website and mis-selling our flights with egregious hidden mark-ups and overcharges.”
It comes as the airline continues to demonstrate how OTAs can work transparently with airlines without scamming or duping customer with hidden mark-up, overcharges, and invented “service” fees, according to the budget carrier.