More condemnation for Ryanair
Thursday, 14 August 2008 12:00 AM
Airport passenger with luggage
Ryanair continues to come under fire for its decision to cancel thousands of flight bookings made on third party websites.
The low-cost airline has announced that all tickets not purchased either on its own website or on its telephone booking line after August 11th 2008 will be invalid.
The move has attracted widespread condemnation, with the transport ministry of Spain launching an investigation, while the Italian transport minister described it as "deplorable and incomprehensible".
Italian consumer rights bodies also criticised Ryanair, with Adusbef and Federconsumatori saying it is "in violation of the consumer code and passengers' rights".
Up to a thousand flight bookings a day are made on other websites, which Ryanair have branded "screen-scrapers", claiming they are breaching copyright.
The Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica has reported a European Commission spokesperson as saying the Commission would intervene where Ryanair cancels tickets legitimately purchased.
Websites affected by the Ryanair cancellations may include the German site V-tours; E-Dreams of Spain; Ireland's Bravofly; and European versions of Opodo. E-Dreams has threatened legal action against Ryanair.
Lastminute.com and Skyscanner.net claim they will not be affected by Ryanair's action.
