THE EUROPEAN Commission is investigating whether Ryanair is violating an EU rule by refusing to honour tickets bought from travel agencies though the internet.
The regulator sent the airline a letter yesterday seeking "clarification" about the policy, said Fabio Pirotta, a commission spokesman.
Earlier this month Ryanair said it was cancelling all tickets booked through online travel agencies, which the airline calls screenscrapers, as it considers the sites are acting illegally.
The commission will check whether Ryanair's policy complies with an EU regulation that increased compensation for passengers stranded because of overbooked flights or cancellations, Mr Pirotta said.
"We have not seen any correspondence from the commission", a Ryanair spokeswoman said last night.
The no-frills airline is already taking legal action against online bookers in Spain to stop them selling tickets, as well as against Irish booker BravoFly and German booker Vtours. Last week the Spanish public works ministry demanded information from Ryanair on its plans to cancel tickets booked through online Spanish eDreams, Rumbo and Atrapolo.
Ryanair justified its action as it said the websites provide "no useful service", slowed the Ryanair.com website and added "hidden fees and mark-ups".
"In all cases this scraping activity is unlawful and in breach of both Ryanair.com's copyright and terms of use," Howard Millar of Ryanair said. ( Additional reporting by Bloomberg)
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/e3944ae8-c473-402a-947b-fb84932d7821.png)