EasyJet has taken legal proceedings against a German software company for extensive screen-scraping of the airline’s website.

It said InteRes, whose tour operator clients include TUI, has persisted in screen scraping easyJet’s website for its 'Mercado' booking engine, despite many warnings.

An easyJet spokesman said the airline was also monitoring other companies which it believes could be acting illegally.

He confirmed that some of these are based in the UK.

In response to InteRes’s activities, easyJet said it had invited the company to connect to the airline’s Application Programming Interface (API), which gives real-time access to easyJet flight inventory.

But InteRes had rejected the invitation.

Jerry Dunn, easyJet’s distribution development manager, said: “We offer screen scrapers a commercially viable and fully licensed alternative form of distribution, which a majority of former scrapers have already signed up to.

“We will not accept that some scrapers continue to go about their business to the detriment of our customers. Screen scraping causes many technical problems, mis-selling of our flights and consequently to numerous customer service problems.”

EasyJet has taken proceedings against InteRes for breach of virtual householders rights and breach of database right in Hamburg.

By Bev Fearis