Ryanair has challenged the global search engine giant Google, to enforce greater transparency in its online advertising policies, to prevent the airline’s customers being misled into buying their flights from so-called 'screen scraper' sites.

These sites take information from the airline's website and providing it to customers on secondary sites, while charging additional fees.

According to Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, websites such as eDreams are paying Google to have their ads ranked above the airline’s own site.

He said this leads to customers paying higher hidden charges, and to Ryanair missing out on significant amounts of valuable customer data.

It also claims that these sites breach Ryanair's intellectual property rights, and that it breaks the terms of use of Ryanair's website

A German court ruled recently that eDreams had been using an unlawful subdomain and was misleading customers into thinking that it had an official partnership with Ryanair.

These sites have argued that ultimately they forward customers on to Ryanair's site to buy tickets.

Michael O'Leary on passport desk at Dublin airport this morning. #boardingcardplease pic.twitter.com/8dtRWWx5Eu

— Gary Dunne (@GaryDunne) October 6, 2015

Meanwhile, the company's chief executive, Michael O'Leary has been spotted personally checking in customers in Dublin this morning.