The British online travel agency On the Beach (OTB) saw its shares soar by almost 13% on the London Stock Exchange, after announcing an agreement with the Irish airline Ryanair, which has long denounced inflated prices of his plane tickets on certain websites.
This agreement
“allows OTB customers to seamlessly access Ryanair's low-cost flights as part of their holiday packages with full price transparency
,” the travel agency argued in a statement.
It
“guarantees that On the Beach customers will not be overcharged for Ryanair flights and services and that they will have direct access to their account”
on the carrier’s website, Ryanair said in a separate press release.
“Pirate”
online travel agencies
The announcement caused OTB's stock to soar on the London Stock Exchange, where it gained 12.88% to 159.61 pence shortly before 1:00 p.m. GMT.
On the other hand, Ryanair's stock was stable, at 20.46 euros, on the Dublin Stock Exchange.
Ryanair has long denounced what the company calls
"pirate"
online travel agencies , saying many sites sell its tickets more expensively, charge hidden markups and provide the company with false contact and payment information.
The company had notably designated at the beginning of February, in a press release,
“On The Beach as the No. 1 pirate”
of the month,
“overcharging its customers by 117% (125 pounds) for flight change fees which cost only 45 pounds on Ryanair.com.”
Fewer tickets sold but good news for Ryanair
The airline indicated in early January that several online travel agencies, such as Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak, had stopped selling its tickets in December.
“Welcome”
news
which nevertheless had a negative impact on the carrier’s
“loading rates and yields”
for its delayed third quarter, according to its results published at the end of January.
Since January, Ryanair has also entered into partnerships with the travel groups Tui, loveholidays and Kiwi.com, for the sale of its flights.