Ryanair hits On the Beach in new attack on 'pirate' travel sites

Mr O'Leary called travel agents «pirates» over claims they were of no value. Photo: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis News < p>Ryanair has accused On The Beach of overcharging customers in a new attack on “pirate” travel sites.

The budget airline has accused the travel agent of defrauding passengers by charging £125 for connecting flights. The fee dwarfs the £45 fee charged by Ryanair.

It is the latest spat in the long-running battle between Ryanair and online travel agents (OTAs).

Michael O'Leary , Ryanair's chief executive, has branded travel agents «pirates» over claims they provide no value and make it difficult to communicate with passengers.

Dara Brady, director of Ryanair, said: «It is unacceptable that the UK and Irish governments and EU consumer agencies continue to ignore this rampant digital piracy and anti-consumer sales.

«Ryanair will continue to campaign against online travel agent pirates by exposing their digital piracy. and fraudulent price gouging.»

On The Beach has repeatedly denied Ryanair's claims and accused budget airlines of using anti-competitive behavior to prevent customers from booking through online travel agents.

The company previously won £2 million in damages after being sued by the airline. over refunds for changed and canceled flights.

In its latest statement, Ryanair also hit out at eSky and Opodo.

The statement said the former charges fees for canceling flights that are not may be cancelled, at a cost of €33 (£28), while the second is accused of charging passengers a service charge of €60 for a «non-existent service».

Travel industry consultant Martin Alcock told The Telegraph earlier this week: «[OTAs] will argue that there is enormous value, they do provide enormous security and the ability to access the refunds that they take on as a liability.»

Ryanair's battle with OTAs came into the spotlight in December when Ryanair flights disappeared from sites such as Booking.Com, Kiwi and Kayak.

A Booking.com spokesman said earlier this week that this was due to new screening measures put in place by the airline.

This impacted Ryanair's passenger numbers in subsequent weeks and forced the airline to cut fares to boost sales.

An eSky spokesman said Ryanair was «attempting to portray OTAs as the 'bad guys' in the industry» and said its fee statements contained «fundamental inaccuracies in methodology».

> He said: “Regarding the cancellation fee, it is important to note that it is taken out of context and applies to any airline, not just Ryanair. This fee covers services provided when processing flight cancellations, including liaising with the airline to verify cancellation conditions and possible refund options.»

An Opodo spokesperson added: «We have supported more than 6 million travelers affected by… for disruptions in airline operations. Since the pandemic, we've even started demanding refunds to customers when airlines fell behind on their obligations — all at no cost to consumers.»