Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has lost its latest legal bid to force online travel agent (OTA) Kiwi.com to hand over its customers' credit card details and email addresses. The Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic, found in favour of the OTA on November 7, 2023.

Ryanair has no commercial relationship with Kiwi and has long objected to the OTA selling its flights. The low-cost carrier is involved in several lawsuits against Kiwi.com and other OTAs in multiple jurisdictions in a bid to stop them scraping fare information from its website and on-selling tickets. The airline has accused Kiwi.com of providing it with fake passenger contact and payment details.

One of Ryanair's many issues with OTAs is the non-provision of specific passenger details, including contact details and payment information, in OTA bookings. Ryanair says they need this information to contact passengers directly when issues such as delays and cancellations arise. OTAs, who say they act as the passenger's bona fide agent/representatives, argue that Ryanair does not. OTAs say Ryanair's stance is primarily about forcing them out of the market.

This particular matter dates back almost three years. In early 2021, a Czech court ordered Kiwi.com to hand over the data to Ryanair. The OTA successfully appealed this ruling. But in late 2021, the OTA was again ordered to hand over the data by a lower court. That ruling was also later annulled, but that higher court annulment only dealt with procedural matters and not the substance of the dispute. Legal disputes are also underway between Kiwi.com and Ryanair in court in Italy and Spain.

Last week, Kiwi.com had better luck in the lower court when dealing with the dispute's substance, with the Regional Court dismissing Ryanair's case. "We welcome the decision of the Court to dismiss the case brought by Ryanair," said Kiwi.com's CEO Oliver Dlouhý. "We hope it puts an end to the misleading statements Ryanair has made against us for many years, which we believe were designed to damage the reputation of online travel agents' booking processes by inferring virtual email addresses and credit cards are not legitimate and secure. There is no reason for Ryanair to need this information other than as a means to stop competition, just as with the unnecessary verification process implemented earlier this year that penalises customers who do not book directly with the airline."

"The decision is not final," a Ryanair spokesperson told ch-aviation. "The judge provided only a very brief oral reasoning and Ryanair will appeal. The same court has already ruled in separate proceedings that Kiwi’s practices constitute unfair competition.”