Some 30,000 tickets reserved online on other websites are to be cancelled. However, analysts say the company will not register losses following this decision.
Ryanair posted €777 million in sales in the first quarter of the year, 12 percent higher than in Q1 2007.
Sources on the Romanian low-cost market say the decision will impact on Ryanair’s flights from the southeastern city of Constanta to Pisa, Italy.
This is the first such move on the low-cost market. No other operator on the Romanian market has opted to give up brokers for ticketing. easyJet is selling tickets on its own website internationally, but it collaborates with travel agency J’Info Tours locally, because internet coverage is lower in Romania, according to company representatives. Another operator, MyAir, said much of its ticket sales are through brokers, and that they have no problems with brokers.
Ryanair, operating in Romania since April, estimated €8.5 million in revenues locally, in the first year of operation.
Other low-cost companies operating in Romania are SkyEurope, WizzAir, Blue Air, and Germanwings.
