BTA raises alarm over Ryanair terms that could shut corporates out of managed travel

The Business Travel Association has warned that new booking terms imposed by Ryanair on travel management companies risk undermining the foundations of managed business travel, potentially leaving corporate travellers without the support and oversight their employers are obliged to provide.

Ryanair’s Offline Subscriber Booking Terms, which apply to TMCs booking through GDS channels, introduce a raft of operational, servicing and commercial restrictions. The deadline for Sabre and Travelport users passed on 31 March, with Amadeus users facing a May 2026 cut-off.

The BTA said it had sought to engage with the airline on behalf of its member TMCs and their corporate clients but that Ryanair declined to participate. The association wrote formally to the carrier in October 2025, raising concerns across four areas: liability, post-booking servicing rights, refund processes and data protection.

At the heart of the dispute is the role TMCs play in helping employers fulfil duty of care obligations, track travellers, manage disruption and maintain policy compliance. The BTA argues these are essential functions of managed travel, not optional extras, and that the new terms create barriers to delivering them effectively.

Among the most contentious provisions is a requirement for TMCs to obtain express passenger consent and use Ryanair’s own Travel Agent Direct platform for all post-booking changes, bypassing the GDS through which the original booking was made. The association said this adds unnecessary complexity for TMCs, passengers and travel managers alike, particularly during delays, cancellations or other disruption.

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For corporate travel buyers, the implications are stark. Employers need confidence that their people can be located and supported when things go wrong, and that their programmes remain compliant and auditable. With those assurances weakened, the BTA suggested, the case for including Ryanair within a managed programme becomes harder to justify.

The impact on individual travellers could be equally significant. Some employees may lose the ability to book Ryanair through their normal managed channel altogether, while others could find themselves navigating rebookings or refunds directly with the airline rather than through their employer’s appointed travel partner. The BTA noted that junior staff and those without corporate credit cards would be particularly disadvantaged, especially when travelling abroad without reliable internet access or where English is not widely spoken.

Clive Wratten, chief executive of the BTA, said the association’s position was straightforward: employers must be able to include airlines in their travel programmes without compromising service, safety or audit capability.

He acknowledged that some TMCs may conclude they cannot accept the terms on commercial, operational or compliance grounds, and that where this is the case, Ryanair content may no longer be available through parts of the managed channel. TMCs may instead steer clients towards alternative carriers that can be fully supported within a managed programme.

Wratten stressed that the BTA and its members understood the commercial objectives airlines are pursuing and remained willing to work with Ryanair on a solution that is operationally workable and aligned with the standards business travellers receive elsewhere in the market.