Capybara slay… Irish budget airline Ryanair (known for its colorful social media presence) announced yesterday that Booking.com, Kayak, and other travel-booking sites stopped selling its flights. Ryanair clapped back, calling it a “welcome removal” and alleging the services are “pirates” that overcharge and scam customers. While Ryanair said it expects the block would hurt bookings in the short term, it plans to retain customers by lowering fares and doesn’t expect a significant full-year impact. Possible reasons for the removal:
Policy shift: An Irish high court ruled last month that “screen-scraper” Flightbox unlawfully pulled data from Ryanair for third-party sites to use for bookings.
Corporate beef: Ryanair’s been duking it out in US courts with Booking.com since 2020 over accusations of screen-scraping.
Money in the middle… Third-party sites make money mainly by taking a cut of booked travel from airlines, hotels, and customers in exchange for the sales they facilitate. Expedia made $100M in revenue from airfare last quarter — and $3.2B from hotels. Some airlines want customers to book exclusively through their sites: Southwest makes a point of showing fares only on its website (not even on Google Flights, which doesn’t charge its partners). Other airlines incentivize customers by offering more miles and options when they book directly.
Flying solo could have setbacks… Airlines that don’t appear on third-party aggregators could lose out on customers who don’t want to open 12 tabs to price-compare. Ryanair had a banner year in 2023 thanks to booming flight demand, but if vacays cool off, losing its low-priced visibility on aggregators could hurt. On the other hand, customers willing to book directly are more likely to be loyal, repeat flyers.