Spain demands answers on Ryanair agency ban

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's government has demanded information from Irish airline Ryanair after travel agencies warned the firm was threatening to strand thousands of passengers who booked through online brokers.

The public works ministry is now waiting for an answer from Ryanair about its plans to cancel tickets booked through Spain's leading online bookers, eDreams, Rumbo and Atrapolo, before deciding whether to take further action, a spokeswoman said.

"After the media reports at the weekend, on Monday we acted," said a ministry spokeswoman.

However, she said the ministry would not necessarily take action against Ryanair as a result.

"The ministry only acts if we find a breach to the law on passenger rights."

Ryanair has said it is cancelling all flights booked through online travel agencies, which Ryanair calls screenscrapers, as it considers the sites are acting illegally.

In a statement, Ryanair said getting rid of agencies would speed up passenger processing times on Ryanair.com and ensure passengers are not paying unnecessary handling charges or higher fares.

The Irish no-frills airline is already taking legal action against online bookers in Spain to stop them selling tickets, as well as against Irish booker BravoFly and German booker Vtours.

"They can't just take something off our website to resell it," said Ryanair spokesman Daniel de Carvalho.