RYANAIR HAS failed to get a High Court injunction preventing a travel agency selling the airline’s flights as part of holiday packages. The airline had sought the order pending the outcome of its full action against Club Travel.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern said yesterday that Ryanair’s fear that, unless it got an injunction, the agency’s activities would cause unquantifiable damage to the airline’s business and reputation, were “somewhat unreal and fanciful”.
Ryanair has alleged Club Travel, registered as Budget Travel, was involved in “screenscraping”, whereby data from Ryanair’s website was reutilised on its website in breach of the airline’s policy to only sell tickets itself.
The agency has denied the claims and contends a consumer enters into a contract with Ryanair for the flight.
Mr Justice McGovern said an injunction was not necessary because Ryanair, if it succeeded in a full hearing of its claims, had a remedy in damages.
Club Travel’s activities were now an established enterprise and if it was required to cease those activities, pending trial of the action, it would cause the agency great hardship and inconvenience. The balance of convenience was against granting the injunction, the judge said.