Ticket seller Kiwi does not have to give Ryanair clients’ e-mails, the court in Brno ruled

Ryanair requested the transfer of said data instead of the industry-recognised virtual information normally used when booking flights. “It’s a victory for customers, who will continue to be able to freely choose from the full range of options we offer and choose how and with whom they will order tickets,” said Oliver Dlouhý, founder and CEO of the decision. According to him, it was a practice aimed at limiting competition.

The dispute has been going on for several years. In January 2021, the regional court issued a preliminary injunction in the dispute, ordering Kiwi.com to hand over the requested data to Ryanair. Two years ago, the Constitutional Court annulled the preliminary measure. However, in September two years ago, the regional court issued a preliminary measure again, the Constitutional Court canceled it again last June, but then it only dealt with procedural matters and not the substance of the dispute.

This October, on the other hand, the Czech seller failed in a dispute at the Commercial Court in Madrid with a request for a preliminary injunction against Ryanair’s practices. Airlines require customers who do not buy tickets directly from them but through Kiwi.com to verify the customer using facial recognition, which Kiwi disputes and sought to ban with the help of Ryanair in court. The substance of the lawsuit will still be dealt with by the Madrid court, and Ryanair can continue its current practice.

Ryanair wants to sell its own tickets

In the long-term relationship between the two companies, the essence is that Ryanair wants to sell tickets itself as a carrier and does not want anyone else to sell tickets for its flights. The essence of Kiwi.com’s operation, on the other hand, is based on the fact that it resells tickets of various airlines. It has been on the market since 2012 and employs around 1,100 people worldwide. Last year, it managed a loss of almost half a billion, the year before with a loss of over 300 million crowns, and it expects a profit only in 2025.