Booking.com Wins Support in Ryanair Screen-Scraping Appeal
Three major non-profit groups have voiced support for Booking Holdings in its legal battle with Ryanair, backing the travel giant’s appeal against a lawsuit over alleged unauthorized screen-scraping of Ryanair’s flight data.
The dispute began in 2020, when Ryanair sued Booking Holdings and its subsidiaries—Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, and Agoda—claiming they accessed and sold the airline’s fares without consent, violating the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Screen-scraping involves extracting website data for resale through third-party platforms.
In July 2024, a Delaware jury found Booking.com liable and awarded Ryanair USD5,000 in damages. However, in January 2025, the judge overturned the verdict, ruling Ryanair failed to prove at least USD5,000 in losses—required for civil claims under the CFAA. Ryanair appealed the reversal, seeking a new trial or reinstatement of the verdict.
In July 2025, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing Ryanair’s interpretation dangerously broadens the CFAA’s scope. EFF contends the law should apply strictly to hacking, not to breaching website terms of service, and warned against limiting access to publicly available data.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also filed a brief, warning that criminalizing scraping could hinder journalism and infringe on First Amendment rights.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) supported Booking.com, emphasizing the benefits of online travel agencies for competition and transparency. All three groups urged the court to uphold a narrow, hacker-focused reading of the CFAA to protect innovation, access, and industry norms.
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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com