Ryanair’s US ‘screenscraping’ case against Booking.com proceeds

Ryanair is pressing ahead with a lawsuit in the US against online travel giant, Booking. com, for allegedly "screenscraping" and then reselling its fares at a mark-up without the airline's permission.

Ryanair launched the case in Delaware in 2020 against the Dutch website and three of its sister sites, Priceline and Kayak, which operate in the US, and Agoda which operates in Singapore. It is also suing Booking Holdings, the parent company of all the websites.

The airline has alleged that the websites “screenscrape” fares from Ryanair’s website and, acting as online travel agents, sell them on to their own customers in breach of the terms and conditions of the Ryanair website.

Ryanair claims this damages its brand and results in its passengers paying higher fares.

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The Irish airline is attempting to sue the websites in Delaware under the US’s Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Booking.com and the other respondents deny any wrongdoing.

Mediation

In January, a judge in Delaware referred the case for mediation, filings show, which could have led to a settlement to the dispute before it went to court.

A mediation conference between the sides was scheduled for March 14th. However, filings show the proposed conference was cancelled two weeks before it was due to take place.

Last month, further filings revealed that the case was no longer being referred for mediation, suggesting that the court case is set to proceed. In recent weeks, the discovery process has kicked off, with each side seeking documents from the other.

The case is the latest in a slew of lawsuits that Ryanair has filed in Ireland, Britain and the US against online travel agents for screenscraping.

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, has previously called on the European Commission to take action against websites that resell airline fares without permission, while he once described the alleged screenscrapers as a "pain in the ass".

Ryanair has developed an in-house security system, Shield, to block screenscrapers although it has alleged that some online travel agents have attempted to bypass it.

During the pandemic, the airline revealed that up to a fifth of its passengers were travelling on tickets bought through screenscrapers, up from one-in-10 before the pandemic.

In its responses to the US case, Booking Holdings argued that the issue should not be heard in the US courts.

Ryanair is already suing Booking.com in Dublin over the issue, although that case has barely progressed since 2019. Booking said that, in 2019, Booking.com sold only 55,000 Ryanair tickets, while Priceline sold only 2,000 and Agoda just 95.