EC queries Ryanair tactics
EUROPEAN watchdogs have written to Ryanair over claims the low fares airline is breaking EU law by cancelling bookings made on third party websites.
Earlier this month the firm said that it will no longer take into account what it described as "unlawful" flight bookings that are not made on its own website or phone reservations hotline.
Ryanair has said that it will cut this type of flight booking from its business operations by next Tuesday.
In addition, the company has claimed that "screen-scraping" websites offering these third party reservations like www.lastminute.ie and www.eDreams.com are forcing passengers to pay "unnecessary" handling charges.
Ryanair also alleges that these websites are regularly failing to provide up to the minute flight information on the low fares airline's travel arrangements, and are delaying access to Ryanair's own website by the Irish firm's own customers.
But hitting back at the claims by the Irish low fares airline today, it has emerged that the European Commission has now written to Ryanair to detail a series of questions over whether the airline's move against third party websites is legal.
According to the EC, there is the possibility such a move could be a breach of current EU law.
