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Order HereThe European Commission (EC) has accepted and made legally binding commitments put forward by SkyTeam members Air France/KLM, Alitalia andDelta Air Lines to address competition concerns relating to their joint venture (JV) operations on three transatlantic routes.
In 2009 and 2010, Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta signed agreements establishing a transatlantic JV. However, the Commission felt that cooperation in terms of profit-sharing—the joint management of schedules, pricing and capacity—could result in higher prices for all passengers on the Amsterdam-New York and Rome-New York routes, and for premium passengers on the Paris-New York route, in breach of European Union (EU) antitrust rules.
It was also concerned that “considerable barriers to entry and expansion” would have made it difficult for new and existing competitors “to challenge the ability of the joint venture to set and maintain prices above the level that would exist in a competitive market.”
As a result, in January 2012, the Commission began a formal investigation into the passenger operations of the JV airlines on routes between Europe and North America.
In a bid to address the Commission’s concerns, the airlines proposed a range of commitments, which included making slots available to competitor airlines at the airports in question, allowing them to sell tickets on their flights (“fare combinability” agreements), frequent flyer program cooperation and full cooperation transparency.
The Commission determined the commitments adequately addressed competition concerns and has made them legally binding on Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta for a period of 10 years. An independent trustee will monitor compliance.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Airlines can cooperate to enlarge their network if it makes them more efficient and allows them to better serve their passengers. With today’s decision, I want to ensure that passengers flying from Paris, Amsterdam or Rome to New York continue to benefit from competitive prices and choice. We have now concluded our reviews of the three major worldwide airline alliances—and are one step closer to a genuine level playing field in transatlantic aviation markets.”
Any breach of the commitments by any of the airlines involved could result in a fine of up to 10% of the companies’ total annual turnover without the Commission having to find a violation of the EU competition rules.
The Commission had previously accepted and made binding commitments provided by members of transatlantic JVs within oneworld (July 2010) and Star Alliance (May 2013) to ensure competition on transatlantic air passenger markets.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
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Order HereThe European Commission (EC) has accepted and made legally binding commitments put forward by SkyTeam members Air France/KLM, Alitalia andDelta Air Lines to address competition concerns relating to their joint venture (JV) operations on three transatlantic routes.
In 2009 and 2010, Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta signed agreements establishing a transatlantic JV. However, the Commission felt that cooperation in terms of profit-sharing—the joint management of schedules, pricing and capacity—could result in higher prices for all passengers on the Amsterdam-New York and Rome-New York routes, and for premium passengers on the Paris-New York route, in breach of European Union (EU) antitrust rules.
It was also concerned that “considerable barriers to entry and expansion” would have made it difficult for new and existing competitors “to challenge the ability of the joint venture to set and maintain prices above the level that would exist in a competitive market.”
As a result, in January 2012, the Commission began a formal investigation into the passenger operations of the JV airlines on routes between Europe and North America.
In a bid to address the Commission’s concerns, the airlines proposed a range of commitments, which included making slots available to competitor airlines at the airports in question, allowing them to sell tickets on their flights (“fare combinability” agreements), frequent flyer program cooperation and full cooperation transparency.
The Commission determined the commitments adequately addressed competition concerns and has made them legally binding on Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta for a period of 10 years. An independent trustee will monitor compliance.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Airlines can cooperate to enlarge their network if it makes them more efficient and allows them to better serve their passengers. With today’s decision, I want to ensure that passengers flying from Paris, Amsterdam or Rome to New York continue to benefit from competitive prices and choice. We have now concluded our reviews of the three major worldwide airline alliances—and are one step closer to a genuine level playing field in transatlantic aviation markets.”
Any breach of the commitments by any of the airlines involved could result in a fine of up to 10% of the companies’ total annual turnover without the Commission having to find a violation of the EU competition rules.
The Commission had previously accepted and made binding commitments provided by members of transatlantic JVs within oneworld (July 2010) and Star Alliance (May 2013) to ensure competition on transatlantic air passenger markets.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
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Order HereThe European Commission (EC) has accepted and made legally binding commitments put forward by SkyTeam members Air France/KLM, Alitalia andDelta Air Lines to address competition concerns relating to their joint venture (JV) operations on three transatlantic routes.
In 2009 and 2010, Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta signed agreements establishing a transatlantic JV. However, the Commission felt that cooperation in terms of profit-sharing—the joint management of schedules, pricing and capacity—could result in higher prices for all passengers on the Amsterdam-New York and Rome-New York routes, and for premium passengers on the Paris-New York route, in breach of European Union (EU) antitrust rules.
It was also concerned that “considerable barriers to entry and expansion” would have made it difficult for new and existing competitors “to challenge the ability of the joint venture to set and maintain prices above the level that would exist in a competitive market.”
As a result, in January 2012, the Commission began a formal investigation into the passenger operations of the JV airlines on routes between Europe and North America.
In a bid to address the Commission’s concerns, the airlines proposed a range of commitments, which included making slots available to competitor airlines at the airports in question, allowing them to sell tickets on their flights (“fare combinability” agreements), frequent flyer program cooperation and full cooperation transparency.
The Commission determined the commitments adequately addressed competition concerns and has made them legally binding on Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta for a period of 10 years. An independent trustee will monitor compliance.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Airlines can cooperate to enlarge their network if it makes them more efficient and allows them to better serve their passengers. With today’s decision, I want to ensure that passengers flying from Paris, Amsterdam or Rome to New York continue to benefit from competitive prices and choice. We have now concluded our reviews of the three major worldwide airline alliances—and are one step closer to a genuine level playing field in transatlantic aviation markets.”
Any breach of the commitments by any of the airlines involved could result in a fine of up to 10% of the companies’ total annual turnover without the Commission having to find a violation of the EU competition rules.
The Commission had previously accepted and made binding commitments provided by members of transatlantic JVs within oneworld (July 2010) and Star Alliance (May 2013) to ensure competition on transatlantic air passenger markets.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.