Holy smokes for car hire partnership

Ryanair yesterday launched a car hire partnership with Irish online brokerage CarTrawler, replacing a long-running deal with Hertz and promising customers lower prices.

The tie-up will ensure Ryanair customers will have access to the cheapest car hire fares, the company said as it announced the launch of Ryanair Car Hire.

The deal with CarTrawler, the Dublin-based private equity-backed technology platform could remove the need for customers to use rival car hire websites and counter the growing popularity of comparison sites.