Ryanair Wins Case Against Booking.com in Delaware Court Ruling

A US court ruled last week that Booking.com had violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, causing loss to low-cost airline Ryanair.

The Delaware Court jury also ruled that Booking.com had done so knowingly with “intent to defraud”, and that Ryanair had suffered economic harm as a result of Booking.com’s unlawful screenscraping activity.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.

“Ryanair and our customers warmly welcome the unanimous jury ruling in the Delaware Court, which comprehensively (found in favour of Ryanair), proving that the travel industry giant Booking.com had illegally ‘scraped’ Ryanair’s website, and did so with an intention to defraud both Ryanair and ordinary consumers, which was in breach of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said.

“We expect that this ruling will end the internet piracy and overcharging perpetrated on both airlines and other travel companies and consumers by the unlawful activity of OTA Pirates like Booking.com,” he added.

The Delaware Court jury also dismissed all Booking.com’s counterclaims against Ryanair, which included claims for defamation, unfair competition, and deceptive trade practices.

Ryanair has long complained about the “deceptive practices” of certain online travel agencies. According to an announcement by the airline, these OTAs used intermediate software providers to scrape Ryanair’s website, and then use this information to overcharge consumers for Ryanair air fares and/or ancillary services but mask these anti-consumer practices by making bookings using fake customer emails and fake customer payment cards.

“This ruling is a great victory for low fare air travel, and it’s a great win for the travelling public as well,” O’Leary said.