747FOCAL
23rd Dec 2003, 04:04
Brussels 'names and shames' airlines
Financial Times 12/19/03
author: Daniel Dombey
Copyright (c) 2003 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive Ltd.,trading as Factiva.
Europe's network airlines are unfairly charging internet customers different prices in different countries for the same tickets, the European Commission alleged on Friday .
But it admitted that it did not have clear powers to rectify the alleged problem.
In an attempt at "naming and shaming", the Brussels body wrote to 18 European airlines on Friday to ask if they charged different fares to customers in different European states - and called on them to justify any such practices.
The Commission said that it could be almost €200 ($248) more expensive to buy tickets on domestic flights online if the customer was outside the airline's home country. International flights could be up to 300 per cent more expensive.
In its letter it told the airlines it was acting after an increasing number of complaints and it was also concerned "that some air companies forbid travel agencies . . . to sell tickets outside the national borders of the country where the agency is placed".
The letters were sent to Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Midlands, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Luxair, Meridiana, Olympic Airways, Spanair, SAS, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
The Commission said low-cost airlines did not appear to carry out the same practices. It also acknowledged that prices could vary for "objective" reasons, such as booking time, flexibility, distribution channels and the starting point of the journey.
"The airlines haven't received anything yet," said the Association of European Airlines. "We will only be able to respond when we know the contents of the letters."
The Commission asked the companies to respond by February 29. But although the EU Treaty "establishes the principles of non-discrimination and of the internal market", a spokesman for Loyola de Palacio, transport Commissioner, said the legal "basis [for disciplinary action] is not very clear".
The Commission can punish companies for forming cartels, abusing "dominant" positions in the market or creating obstacles to trade. But it may be hard to show that the airlines have carried out such conduct.
Financial Times 12/19/03
author: Daniel Dombey
Copyright (c) 2003 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive Ltd.,trading as Factiva.
Europe's network airlines are unfairly charging internet customers different prices in different countries for the same tickets, the European Commission alleged on Friday .
But it admitted that it did not have clear powers to rectify the alleged problem.
In an attempt at "naming and shaming", the Brussels body wrote to 18 European airlines on Friday to ask if they charged different fares to customers in different European states - and called on them to justify any such practices.
The Commission said that it could be almost €200 ($248) more expensive to buy tickets on domestic flights online if the customer was outside the airline's home country. International flights could be up to 300 per cent more expensive.
In its letter it told the airlines it was acting after an increasing number of complaints and it was also concerned "that some air companies forbid travel agencies . . . to sell tickets outside the national borders of the country where the agency is placed".
The letters were sent to Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Midlands, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Luxair, Meridiana, Olympic Airways, Spanair, SAS, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
The Commission said low-cost airlines did not appear to carry out the same practices. It also acknowledged that prices could vary for "objective" reasons, such as booking time, flexibility, distribution channels and the starting point of the journey.
"The airlines haven't received anything yet," said the Association of European Airlines. "We will only be able to respond when we know the contents of the letters."
The Commission asked the companies to respond by February 29. But although the EU Treaty "establishes the principles of non-discrimination and of the internal market", a spokesman for Loyola de Palacio, transport Commissioner, said the legal "basis [for disciplinary action] is not very clear".
The Commission can punish companies for forming cartels, abusing "dominant" positions in the market or creating obstacles to trade. But it may be hard to show that the airlines have carried out such conduct.