Sun comes down on Ryanair Holidays as airline closes service

Ryanair's aim of becoming the "Amazon. com of travel" has suffered a blow after the company announced it had shuttered its package holiday service just two years after it launched.

A note from the company on its website said Ryanair Holidays is discontinuing its service.

“Going forward, it is no longer possible to book a package on Ryanair Holidays. However, all previous bookings are unaffected and will be fulfilled as planned,” the company said.

Ryanair launched its package holiday service in December 2016 to take on tour operators such as TUI by offering flights with accommodation and transfers as a bundle.

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The airline said at the time it was intent on becoming the “amazon.com of travel” by boosting sales of third party services such as hotels and car hire via its website, which gets more than 1.5 million visits a day.

Besides package holidays, the airline also intended to offer concert and sports tickets, as well as other travel services.

Ryanair Holidays had a partnership with Spanish companies World2meet and Logitravel, who provided accommodation and support.

The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) noted in a statement that selling airline seats is a very different proposition to selling a packaged holiday.

"Many other airlines have faced similar challenges when looking to develop package holiday operations in the past," said its chief executive Pat Dawson.