Momondo unrepentant after Ryanair revokes licence claiming contract breach

Ryanair has revoked a licencing agreement with Momondo, claiming a breach of contract, and urged customers to book direct on its website The budget carrier took action, saying that Momondo displayed links to unauthorised “screenscraper” websites, including Opodo and CheapOair, in breach of an agreement. However and unrepentant Momondo said it was not prepared to … Continue reading Momondo unrepentant after Ryanair revokes licence claiming contract breach

Ryanair has revoked a licencing agreement with Momondo, claiming a breach of contract, and urged customers to book direct on its website

The budget carrier took action, saying that Momondo displayed links to unauthorised “screenscraper” websites, including Opodo and CheapOair, in breach of an agreement.

However and unrepentant Momondo said it was not prepared to compromise on its consumer promise to offer price transparency.

Momondo managing director Pia Vemmelund said: “Our primary purpose has always been to show the lowest available price to provide our users with transparency.

“Therefore, we won’t compromise on that transparency by taking out specific travel agencies from our search results just because an airline like Ryanair tells us to. That would be against our principles.

“We can confirm that we no longer have a licence agreement with Ryanair, but we cannot confirm a breach of contract or that we agreed to exclusively show Ryanair prices through Ryanair’s website only.

“So, we continue to show Ryanair flights when these are sold through travel agencies, and we’re happy to continue to show our users the lowest prices and offer transparency.”

Ryanair said it had granted a non-exclusive licence to Momondo to display fares for price comparison purposes.

Momondo was one of a number of travel websites, including SkyScanner, Hipmunk and Dohop, licenced to do so.

Ryanair has been engaged in several legal cases across Europe against screenscraper websites to prevent consumers from being subjected to extra charges and to ensure the airline has “appropriate contact details” to communicate with its customers.

A spokesman for the carrier said: “As Momondo was in clear breach of the terms of our contract by actively linking to screenscraper websites, we have revoked its licence in an effort to prevent any more customers being misled.

“It’s important to note that Ryanair has no commercial agreement whatsover with Opodo or CheapOair, who continue to engage in unauthorised screenscraping and sell on Ryanair’s low fares.”