EasyJet’s legal action against a German screen-scraping business is a “first warning shot” for UK sites which decline to work with easyJet’s official distribution channels. Unlike Ryanair, easyJet does allow third parties to book its seats, via its API. It is also available through the GDSs but is aimed primarily at business travel distribution. The…
EasyJet increases legal threat against scrapers
EasyJet’s legal action against a German screen-scraping business is a “first warning shot” for UK sites which decline to work with easyJet’s official distribution channels.
Unlike Ryanair, easyJet does allow third parties to book its seats, via its API. It is also available through the GDSs but is aimed primarily at business travel distribution.
The airline said that the majority of former scrapers now take its API feed.
A spokesperson said that easyJet would be “fierce” in its pursuit of unauthorized selling of its seats, and that it was considering legal action in the UK.
“We are monitoring a number of sites, in the business travel sector in particular, who have declined to use the API, and we are considering legal action where appropriate.”
The action in Germany is directed against technology company InteRes, whose Mercado booking engine is used by a number of leading German travel brands such as L’TUR, TUI and REWE.
EasyJet told Travolution that its dispute with InteRes had ended up in court because it repeatedly declined to take easyJet’s API.
easyJet acknowledged that it was more concerned about the impact of screen-scraping from the business travel sector than leisure. It is keen to work with travel management companies, and estimates that 20-25% of its business is from corporate travellers.
“We want to work with the trade for business travel; for leisure passengers we want them to book at easyjet.com,” the spokesperson continued.
