Ryanair and Expedia settle out of court

Travolution has learnt that the £4m legal battle between Ryanair and Expedia over an alleged breach of contract has been settled out of court

Travolution has learnt that the £4m legal battle between Ryanair and Expedia over an alleged breach of contract has been settled out of court.

Neither party was prepared to comment.

The dispute came to light in late 2008 when Ryanair dropped Expedia as its exclusive white-label partner for hotels on Ryanair.com. The Irish airline accused Expedia of “being in breach of a number of its payments terms.”

Expedia responded by saying that not only had it “complied in every respect with the terms of [its] agreement with Ryanair” but also that “Ryanair [had] failed to honour its obligations under that agreement.”

The case went to court in October 2008 when the £4m sum was agreed by both parties as a “ball park figure”, with the exact amount to be decided by the presiding judge. A trial date for November 2009 was set.

This was then delayed until February this year. However, court officials confirmed that this hearing never took place and that the case had been “settled”.

Ryanair now uses Priceline Inc’s booking.com as its exclusive hotel provider on Ryanair.com. It uses Hostelworld.com for its hostels and B&B channel on the site.

Earlier this month it added holiday homes to the accommodation offer on Ryanair.com through a link-up with Perfect Getaway.