After successful negotiations with IATA under the auspices of the European Commission, ECTAA and GEBTA have withdrawn their complaint filed in October 2002 against IATA and IATA airlines for infringing European competition legislation

On 18 October 2002, the Group of National Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations within the EU, and GEBTA, the Guild of European Business Travel Agents, have filed a complaint with the European Commission against IATA and IATA member airlines for infringing European competition law, as provided for in Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty.

ECTAA and GEBTA considered that the IATA regulations contained in the Resolutions 814[i] and which all IATA accredited agents have to comply with in accordance with the IATA agency contract, constitute agreements and decisions of associations of undertakings prohibited by Article 81 of the EC Treaty and allow IATA and IATA member airlines to abuse their dominant position on the market for the distribution of air transport services, which is an infringement of Article 82 of the EC Treaty.

More specifically….

In June 2003, recognizing that our complaint is well founded, the European Commission confirmed that the IATA agency contract infringes European competition rules in 4 areas:

o        The national character of accreditation criteria, especially regarding financial guarantee and professional qualifications, has the effect of partitioning the Internal Market. Moreover, some IATA rules are no longer adapted to the way travel agents conduct their business nowadays. The European Commission therefore recommended IATA to review the criteria and rules on the approval and retention of accreditation, in collaboration with European travel agents.  

o        The rules on ticket issuance through STPs (Satellite Ticket Printers) have the effect of partitioning the Internal Market.  

o        The organisation of the BSP on a national basis also has the effect of partitioning the Internal Market and must be reviewed.

o        The upholding of the rules on fares that create differences in fares depending on the agent’s location. The Commission considers that these rules applying for IATA published fares should be removed. 

The Commission opted to settle the case through negotiations between the parties, rather than through official investigation or decision. After more than one year negotiations under the guidance of DG Competition, the IATA Passenger Agency Conference adopted a number of important amendments, which can be summarised as follows:

1. Accreditation - Removal of detailed local criteria on staff; - Simplification of criteria on premises and security standards; - Creation of an additional type of accreditation, which removes accreditation barriers in the Internal Market: the single accreditation for Europe.

2. Fairness - Improvement of procedures for changes; - Reinforcement of individual agents’ rights to be heard.

3. Cross border activities in Europe - Introduction of cross border use of ticket stocks.

ECTAA and GEBTA welcome these amendments and have thus decided to withdraw the complaint against IATA and IATA airlines under certain conditions….