Ryanair Rips EasyJet’s GDS Deals

Ryanair denounced agents as the travel industry’s “greatest deadwood” and “costliest parasites” as it chided European low-cost rival carrier easyJet for signing deals with Amadeus and Galileo.

Ryanair, based in Dublin and Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, argued easyJet, which ranks second, is increasing its cost and fare gap with Ryanair by making a deal that includes “rip-off middlemen.”

EasyJet, however, sees the GDS deals it announced November 5 as an opportunity to increase its share of business travelers, which it said now stands at about 20 percent.

Its GDS participation will specifically target agents specializing in business travel and will include a mandatory point-of-sale fee that agents get to keep, but which is designed to keep the carrier’s own website as the preferred distribution channel for most consumers.

Even with the point-of-sale fee, easyJet maintained its seats sold through the GDS still will be “dramatically lower than those offered on any of the traditional airlines.”

The fee will be identical to the airline’s fee for call center and airport ticket counter bookings: about $10.86, or €7.50, per sector for bookings with one sector; $8.69, or €6, per sector for bookings with two sectors; and $7.24, or €5, per sector for bookings with three or more sectors.

Amadeus noted it is carrying out “detailed pilots” of the program in Germany, France, Spain and the U.K. that will end this month. As soon as those pilots are concluded, Amadeus will make easyJet flights available to all eligible agencies worldwide.

EasyJet flights will also be available through Galileo in the U.K. by the end of the year and the rest of Europe in the 2008. All corporate travel agents registered as such with Amadeus and Galileo will have access. Agents can contact their local Amadeus or Galileo distributor to register.