Court bars website from selling Ryanair flights

Ruling rejects claim that airline should not sell ancillary services

A French court has ordered Lastminute.fr to stop selling Ryanair flights and ordered the website to pay the Irish airline €50,000.

In its ongoing battle with “screenscrapers”, which sell its flights through their websites, Ryanair took action against Lastminute.fr in the Paris commercial court.

The court ordered the website to stop selling the flights, subject to a €1,000 daily fine, to pay Ryanair €50,000 for “free riding” and contribute €10,000 to the airline’s legal costs.

The court also rejected Lastminute.fr’s motion to prevent Ryanair selling ancillary products and services on its website.

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Lastminute.fr has one month to appeal, so the ruling is not yet fully enforceable.

Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely welcomed the ruling upholding the airline's "right to determine its own distribution model".

Mr Kiely urged customers to book flights directly on the Ryanair website.

Barry O'Halloran

Barry O'Halloran

Barry O’Halloran covers energy, construction, insolvency, and gaming and betting, among other areas