In the ongoing legal battle between Booking.com and Ryanair, Booking.com has accused Ryanair of stealing customers by diverting browsers away from their internet platform.
Booking.com told a court in Delaware USA that they have received an influx of customer complaints after Ryanair allegedly told customers that their reservations were “blocked” or that they had to pay a verification fee at the airport.
Ryanair has sued Booking.com and its subsidiaries for allegedly scraping its fares, where a third party accesses an airline’s website and offers its fares through its own platform. Ryanair argues that this deprives them of revenue and compromises their website’s security.
Booking.com and its subsidiaries, including Kayak, Agoda, and Priceline, have sought permission from the Delaware court to amend their counterclaims against Ryanair, including a fresh defamation claim based on comments made by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary in September.
Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com, is seeking significant damages and wants Ryanair to be prohibited from contacting Booking.com customers or making false statements about the travel agent.
