Ryanair says online travel agents remove flights; sees no impact on profit

DUBLIN (Reuters) -A number of online travel agents stopped selling Ryanair flights in early December following legal and regulatory pressure, but the move is not expected to materially affect full-year profit, the Irish airline said on Wednesday.

Ryanair said the removal may have been the result of pressure from national consumer protection agencies, new customer verification measures it has taken, or a response to a recent Irish High Court ruling blocking the use of certain technology to scrape its website.

Its share price was down 3% at 0813 GMT.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, in a statement described the move by online travel agents (OTAs) including Booking.com, and Kayak as welcome.

It has in recent years launched a series of legal challenges against OTAs, arguing that some charge additional fees and act as a block to communication with customers.

The airline said some “honest/transparent OTA’s such as Google (NASDAQ:) Flights, who do not add hidden mark ups” continued to sell Ryanair flights.

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:), which operates Booking.com and Kayak, and Kiwi.com did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ryanair said it expected the move to increase the percentage of empty seats per flight by 1% or 2% in December and January, but that it did not expect it to materially affect full-year traffic volumes or its full-year after-tax profit guidance.

The company on Wednesday said the average number of empty seats per flight in December increased to 9% from 8% in the same month last year.

The airline flew 12.5 million passengers in December, up 9% from December 2022, despite more than 900 flights being cancelled due to the war in Gaza.