Ryanair has said it will reduce its fares and warned of empty seats on its aircraft after several leading online ticket agents “suddenly” stopped selling the low-cost carrier’s flights.
The announcement follows years of tension between Ryanair and online agents, whom the airline has branded “pirates” and accused of overcharging customers by taking a commission on flights and additions to bookings such as luggage or seat reservations.
In the update on Wednesday, Ryanair said that in early December “most of the larger” travel agent sites, including Booking.com, Kayak and Kiwi, had suddenly removed their flights from sale. All three companies did not comment.
Ryanair said it expected the changes to lead to a small number of extra empty seats on its flights in December and January, and added that it had lowered fares to encourage more people on to its planes.
But the airline added that it did not anticipate a “material” impact on its forecast for passenger numbers or profit in its current financial year, which ends in March. Shares fell almost 4 per cent in early afternoon trading