Ryanair recently lost its claim against the website www.ryanaircampaign.org which allows users of Ryanair complain about the service they receive. The airline took its case to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre which sorts out disputed internet domains. Ryanair claimed that the website was misleading and claimed that it infringed on its trademarks. It also claimed the site was set up in bad faith for: “the purpose of to unfairly disrupting the business of the Complainant and causing it unfair loss and damage”. The one man WIPO panel said the site is not acting in bad faith, nor is it causing confusion among internet users searching for the actual Ryanair website.

Ryanair will seek to block some Web sites from selling its flights at what the airline called inflated prices. Some travel sites (Lastminute.com was mentioned) are routinely doubling the price of the carrier’s flights, said Ryanair and that operators have also misled passengers about baggage allowances and other terms and conditions. “Ryanair sells directly to the public, so passengers should avoid these tour operator Web sites, which charge extortionate mark ups and mislead passengers,” said Peter Sherrard, a spokesman for the company. The carrier will block credit card numbers and Internet addresses from certain travel Web sites, he said.

A late April Fool’s joke from News Biscuit, spotted by Webmaster Paul: Budget airline RyanAir today unveiled their new ‘pay as you weigh’ pricing policy that will mean extra charges for customers exceeding the airline’s recommended flying weight. Under their revised terms and conditions those passengers deemed to be ‘fatties’ will be charged an increasing scale of penalty charges for the extra fuel costs they incur the airline.” The Beetle: we like it, (the joke that is) and then maybe BA will follow suit.