Ryanair signs advertising contract to sell user data

Fee-happy Ryanair is angling for a new revenue stream: Selling website user data to advertisers so they can target Ryanair.com lookers and bookers with advertisements and campaigns around the Web.

Ryanair yesterday signed an exclusive three-year deal to provide user data, without personally identifiable information, to Adara, a Mountain View, California, company which assists advertisers in running data-driven targeting campaigns through display advertising, mobile, video and social media.

Ryanair is taking advantage of a treasure trove of data from the 1.2 million users who visit Ryanair sites daily, according to the airline.

“Ryanair will carry over 80 million passengers this year and attracts 1.2 million users to the Ryanair.com website on a daily basis, Europe’s biggest travel website, offering an enormous marketing opportunity for prospective advertisers,” said Robin Kiely, a Ryanair spokesperson. “We are pleased to announce this partnership with Adara and look forward to forging a successful relationship.”

This is Ryanair’s first such partnership, but it really isn’t breaking any new ground among its peers. Some of Adara’s other clients include United, Delta, US Airways, Marriott,  Hilton HHonors, Sabre, and Travelport.

It is a breakthrough for Adara, however, which gains a foothold in Europe through the deal.