The Court of Appeal has dismissed On The Beach Limited’s appeal against a High Court decision allowing Ryanair Limited’s claim to continue. The appeal concerned whether Ryanair’s inordinate and inexcusable delay made it just to dismiss the proceedings. The finding that Ryanair was responsible for that delay was not appealed.
The proceedings, issued in 2010, concern Ryanair’s allegations that On The Beach sold tickets on Ryanair flights as part of package holidays without permission, breached Ryanair’s terms and conditions, infringed copyright in its database and committed passing off. Those allegations have not been determined on their merits.
Ryanair took no steps in the proceedings from December 2017 until it filed a notice of intention to proceed in July 2020. On The Beach applied to dismiss the case in June 2021. The High Court refused that application in June 2022, finding that although the delay was inordinate and inexcusable, the balance of justice favoured continuing the case. On The Beach appealed that decision.
On The Beach argued that the ongoing case harmed its reputation and ability to attract investment, gave Ryanair leverage in a separate dispute about refunds for cancelled flights, and made it harder to defend the claim as witnesses left and memories faded. The Court of Appeal said prejudice had to be connected to Ryanair’s culpable delay. It excluded from its assessment the period when On The Beach was contesting the Irish courts’ jurisdiction, and allowed three years as a reasonable period for a case of this complexity to reach trial. It therefore assessed prejudice arising from the beginning of 2018 to the June 2021 dismissal application.
The court found the evidence of business and reputational harm during that period insufficient. It also upheld the High Court’s assessment that the evidence did not show the litigation had materially prevented On The Beach from raising finance. The separate refund dispute would have existed even without this case, the court said, and did not justify dismissing it. On trial fairness, it found no evidence that witnesses were unavailable or that a fair trial could not be held. The court also said difficulty obtaining witnesses for Ryanair’s passing-off claim would primarily affect Ryanair, while On The Beach remained entitled to a fair hearing.
The court concluded that On The Beach’s case of prejudice was weak and that dismissing the proceedings would prejudice Ryanair. It found no error of assessment justifying intervention and dismissed the appeal. Ryanair was successful. The court’s provisional view was that Ryanair should receive the costs of the appeal; On The Beach may seek a short hearing on costs within ten days of delivery of the judgment.