Ryanair was due to clash with Booking.com in a US court on Monday over the Irish airline’s claim that the online travel behemoth has been selling its flights without its approval.
The case is one of several that the Irish carrier, Europe’s biggest airline, has taken against online travel agents which it claims add their own charges to its ticket prices.
A court in Delaware was due to hear arguments from the pair on Monday in a case likely to have ramifications for the travel industry as a whole.
Ryanair maintains that Booking Holdings Inc, Booking.com’s parent company, and a group of its subsidiaries have been selling its flights on their websites without its approval.
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The carrier says the websites often add “massive charges” of their own on top of its fares, and then provide Ryanair with false passenger contact details.
Booking Holdings, Booking.com and the other defendants lodged their own counterclaims, including interference with business relations and unfair competition.
The travel agent also alleged defamation against Ryanair stemming from some of its public statements, but the court dismissed this following an application by the Irish company.
That motion sought to have all others similarly dismissed. However, the court denied the motion relating to the defendant’s other claims.
In a conference call with industry analysts earlier this year, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary indicated that the Irish airline was unlikely to settle the litigation with Booking.com.
Ryanair has done several deals with online travel agents since the start of this year, but imposed tight conditions on those companies as part of the agreements, including that they sell flights at the airline’s prices and ensure that it can communicate directly with the passengers.
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