Ryanair Ltd. is an Irish low-cost airline. Its headquarters is located on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland, with its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airports. The airline has been characterized by its rapid expansion. This is a result of the deregulation of the aviation industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low-cost business model.
It looks like Google is getting ready to do business with Ryanair. Now, it would not be a big stretch for Google to find its way into figuring out ways for people to purchase airline tickets. It already has booking system.
Google offers an airline search and booking services. It’s called Flight Search and it launched in the U.K. in March 2013. According to a spokeswoman, it appears that Google has also rolled out a hotel finder service back in 2011.
The spokeswoman also said, “We already have relationships with a number of airlines across the world but are always looking to improve the results by signing deals with more. We have nothing new to announce at this stage.”
If all goes as planned, March of this year could see another launch from Google. Ryanair is ready to share its pricing through Google. Michael O’Leary, who is CEO of Ryanair made mention of the fact that he is working with Google to be part of the launch.
It seems that based on the fact that Google has nothing new to say, that this may all be speculation. However, Janney Capital analyst, Brian McGill, said the report on the Ryanair CEO’s comments points to speculation that possibly Google may have grander long-term plans with respect to online travel. He noted that Google may not want to move to aggressively in this space.
McGill went on to say, “It really will be worth watching if the company tries to compete against the online travel agencies on hotel reservations in a serious fashion.” He was referring to companies like Priceline and Expedia. He added, “It is a constant and persistent threat that has some industry participants we speak with concerned and others not at all. However, it is interesting how many believe this could be the year that Google does make a more serious push into e-travel and it will bear watching where it goes from here.”
O'Leary said he is working with Google on a plan to change how consumers buy their airline tickets. He also said the Internet giant is working on a price-comparison tool that will blow other comparison sites "out of the water."
As McGill said, this is something that may bear watching. It will be Interesting to see just how far Google will want to get involved with the travel business.
Edited by
Ryan Sartor
