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Ryanair has revoked a licensing agreement with online travel agent Momondo following an alleged breach of contract. The airline had granted a non-exclusive licence to Momondo to display its fares for price-comparison purposes. It was one of a number of travel websites, including SkyScanner, Hipmunk and Dohop, licensed to do so.
However, Ryanair revoked its licence after it said Momondo displayed links to unauthorised “screenscraper” websites including Opodo and CheapOair, which “unlawfully mis-sell Ryanair’s low fares in clear breach of the licence agreement”.
Ryanair has been engaged in several legal cases across Europe against screenscraper websites such as Opodo and eDreams to prevent consumers from being subjected to extra charges and to ensure it has contact details to communicate with customers.
The airline said websites of this nature “cause problems” for Ryanair customers as they failed to pass on information to both customers and Ryanair regarding issues such as flight changes, web check-in, special needs assistance and contact details. It said this had resulted in missed flights and repeated problems for its customers.
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Ryanair has begun legal proceedings in the High Court against both Google and eDreams "to stop them misleading consumers by advertising non-existent Ryanair fares" via the eDreams website and Google search adverts.
Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: "As Momondo was in clear breach of the terms of our contract by actively linking to screenscraper websites, we have revoked its licence in an effort to prevent any more customers being misled. It's important to note that Ryanair has no commercial agreement whatsoever with Opodo or CheapOair, who continue to engage in unauthorised screenscraping and sell on Ryanair's low fares."