OTAs hit back at Ryanair for urging passengers to book direct
Will PayneA coalition of some of the UK’s biggest online travel agencies (OTAs) has called on regulators to put an end to Ryanair’s online verification process, which it claims targets customers who book their flights via an online travel company.
It comes after Ryanair last week called on customers to book directly with carriers after accusing some OTAs of providing airlines with inaccurate passenger details which can block customers from managing their bookings.
In a letter sent to UK regulators, members of Online Travel UK, including Booking.com, eDreams Odigeo, Expedia Group, Kiwi.com, lastminute.com, Skyscanner and On the Beach, outlined their claims that Ryanair’s online verification process could be in breach of UK data protection rules.
According to the group, the system implemented by Ryanair includes uploading sensitive personal information such as biometrics in order to access an online booking or check-in online.
The letter signatories believe Ryanair may be breaching UK data protection rules which require data collection to be necessary and kept to a minimum.
Ryanair – which says it does not have any commercial relationship with OTAs, and claims OTAs are not authorised to sell its flights – said the introduction of the customer verification process, which enables passengers who have booked via OTAs to identify themselves, comes as part of a campaign to protect customers from the "malpractices" of OTAs.
In a letter sent to UK regulators including the ICO, CMA and CAA, the travel companies said Ryanair’s facial recognition process involves the collection of sensitive supplementary personal information, such as a person’s race or gender.
"In addition to potentially breaching data minimisation requirements, it also exposes the individual to significant risks to their privacy, rights and freedoms in the event of a data breach," they added.
Ryanair’s director of marketing, communications & digital, Dara Brady accused OTAs of continuing to "mislead" passengers to believe they are getting the cheapest price available by "falsely advertising lower fares" than the airline themselves.
"However, these ’discounted fares’ are often nothing but clickbait to lure customers in before hitting them with hidden markups of up to 200% in some cases," he added.
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