Ryanair: online agents unlikely to win verification face-off

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Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has used a few choice words to talk about online travel agents (OTAs) in the past. Describing them as “pirates” is among the more repeatable.

Equally unflattering adjectives may have flown around Ryanair’s offices on Thursday after a group of OTAs urged UK regulators to investigate the airline’s handling of data belonging to passengers who do not book directly through its website. Yet the OTA challenge could easily backfire.

OTAs including Booking.com claim that passengers who book indirectly for Ryanair flights must undertake a complex identification process to manage their reservation or check in online. This can include facial recognition. The process is “invasive”, they claim. 

Ryanair counters that OTAs sometimes do not pass on customers’ correct email addresses and says it must communicate directly with customers in the event of disruptions.

O’Leary has plenty of grievances to raise against OTAs in retaliation for this attack. These include claims that some package Ryanair flights with hotels and other services and then overcharge for its fares. He has already urged regulators to probe the market.

But Ryanair has also long wanted to cut out any middlemen. It estimates that about 10 per cent of passengers book indirectly. If it achieves passenger forecasts this year, that would equate to more than 18mn people.

Customers who book directly are better-placed to buy “ancillary services”. These range from food to travel insurance. In the year ending in March, such sales accounted for 36 per cent of Ryanair’s €10.78bn of revenue. They help to smooth finances in years when fares are lowered or costs rise. Ryanair forecasts that costs, excluding fuel, will increase by about 6 per cent this year.

The concerns OTAs have that the identification processes will make customers reluctant to book with them are valid. But even if regulators intervene, much of the damage may already have been done. Travel-weary passengers try to avoid repeating previous bad experiences, regardless of fault.