Low Cost & Regional

Ryanair and Kiwi.com end ‘period of friction’ with OTA deal

photo_camera Credit: Menzies Aviation

Following last week’s announcement that Ryanair will now allow online travel agent loveholidays access to it’s database to enable booking through the OTA’s portal, the airline has announced a second OTA deal, this time with Kiwi.com.

Under the agreement Kiwi will now have direct access to the Ryanair.com website, and Kiwi agree to provide their customers with low Ryanair prices for flights and ancillaries, and will see Kiwi provide the direct accurate customer contact and payment details to Ryanair. Kiwi customers will have direct access to their myRyanair account and will receive all Ryanair flight info directly to their email from Ryanair.

READ: Ryanair agrees partnership with OTA loveholidays

In addition to these benefits, this deal also allows customers to enjoy Kiwi virtual interline service which allows customers to book connecting flights, but if they miss their connection flight, Kiwi will reaccommodate passengers free of charge on the next available flight.

In the past, there has been no love lost between the two companies. Ryanair previously called Kiwi a ‘screenscraper’ and a ‘pirate’, while Kiwi branded the carrier as ‘petty’ and ‘despicable’.

READ: Ryanair loses long-running third-party booking case

Events reached a head in August 2021 when the airline announced that it would prevent passengers that had booked through the OTA from entering its aircraft. Ryanair believed that tickets booked though Kiwi were in breach of EU regulation 2015/1998 which relates to prohibited items question before a boarding pass is issued. Kiwi had been issuing its own boarding passed, which Ryanair deemed to be ‘fake’, something the OTA denied.

Golan Shaked, Chief Commercial Officer, Kiwi.com said: “The announcement today of the cooperation with Ryanair is a positive one, ending a period of friction that has impacted our customers. It reflects our commitment to establishing relationships with all airlines for the benefit of customers and our long-term business objectives.”

Dara Brady, Marketing Director, Ryanair added: “Ryanair has long campaigned for all consumers to be protected from OTA Pirate overcharges and scams, and to eliminate fake customer contact and payment info being provided to airlines. This new partnership with Kiwi represents a significant step in achieving that protection for all Kiwi customers who will now get access to Ryanair’s low fares and ancillary services with no overcharges, which will enable Kiwi to offer Ryanair’s low prices to all its customers.”

 

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