A travel agent has blasted Ryanair as "evil" and "petty" in an ongoing row with the budget airline over boarding passes.
Earlier today Ryanair warned customers of "fake" boarding passes for its flights being issued by online travel agent Kiwi.com.
The airline said these passes were not valid on its planes, and that only documents obtained straight from Ryanair would work.
The Irish carrier also said European Union rules mean airlines have to be able to tell passengers of any safety and security issues with their flight.
It claims it can't do this if Kiwi.com is booking customers in with its own passes.
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But now Kiwi.com has hit back, saying Ryanair is being unfair and that there is nothing wrong with its boarding passes.
A Kiwi.com spokesperson said: "There is no such ‘fake’ boarding pass - Kiwi.com complies with all the requirements to ensure safe travel for our customers and have done so for years.
"As well as providing customers with the Ryanair boarding pass we have also placed it on a Kiwi.com branded background - all the information is the same, just the colours are different.
"Threatening not to board customers is petty and an evil Ryanair practice to try and stifle customer choice."
The spokesperson added that "Kiwi.com often sells Ryanair tickets cheaper than Ryanair and they don’t like it".
The Czech Republic-based travel agent also branded Ryanair "nothing short of cruel by putting profit ahead of consumer choice."
Ryanair has been approached for comment on the issue.
To get a Ryanair boarding pass you have to go on Ryanair.com or use the airline's app.
Earlier today Ryanair urged customers to avoid websites like Kiwi.com altogether and go direct instead.
Ryanair says some of these online travel agents overcharge customers, give wrong details for them - and even give the airline fake email addresses so it can't contact customers directly.
Ryanair director of marketing Dara Brady said: “It is an obligation under EU regulations that an airline informs passengers directly of all safety and security policies regarding their flight, Kiwi.com are circumventing this by checking passengers in and replacing the Ryanair boarding pass with a fake boarding pass issued by Kiwi.com."
If you have booked through Kiwi.com, Ryanair said to contact it and get the right booking reference and email address so you can check in directly.
