The European Commission has opened an investigation to the suppliers of such systems travel bookings Amadeus and Sabre, considering that the agreements reached with airlines and travel agencies on the distribution of airline tickets could restrict competition. In particular, Brussels will ask if “certain terms” of these agreements limit the ability of their customers to use other providers. According to eu sources the research, without time limit, has opened ex officio.
The commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Verstager, has put the focus on the two industry leaders in the global systems of distribution for travel: the Spanish Amadeus and its competitor north american Sabre. Their technology allows access to the timetables of flights, availability of seats and the ticket prices of a huge volume of airlines. The tourism industry hires their services for tasks ranging from ordering flights and services on the part of agencies to manage bookings of the airlines.
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however, Brussels suspected that the agreements they are signing with their main customers may be restricting competition and, therefore, violating the community laws to limit your access to other providers. In particular, Competition has decided to investigate if these covenants make it difficult for other companies engaged in the distribution of banknotes can enter the market and if, in addition, are impacting on the cost of tickets, which end up impacting consumers.
Verstager said in a statement that “the liberalization of the aviation market of the EU” has meant “significant benefits to the citizens”, including “most options and cheapest tickets”. “Our research on Amadeus and Sabre focuses on possible restrictions on competition in the market of services of airline tickets. We are concerned that these restrictions may create barriers to innovation and raising the cost of distribution of tickets”.
The agreements that are under investigation, according to Brussels, they may “infringe the competition rules of the EU”, which prohibit agreements between companies that restrict or distort competition in the single market. The community executive, which has started a “research in depth”, has remembered that the opening of the case do not prejudge its outcome. This process has no end date, since this depends on the complexity of the case, the affected companies and the exercise of the right of advocacy on the part of providers.