Neutrality of airline reservation systems (GDS) and restriction of access to flight information
27.9.2017
Question for oral answer O-000075/2017
to the Commission
Rule 128
Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar, Luis de Grandes Pascual, Wim van de Camp, Claudia Schmidt, Georges Bach, Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi, István Ujhelyi, Maria Grapini, Rolandas Paksas, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Deirdre Clune, Kateřina Konečná, Andor Deli, Marek Plura, Gabriele Preuß, Olga Sehnalová, Birgit Collin-Langen, Matt Carthy, Paul Rübig, Nessa Childers, Seán Kelly, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Claudia Țapardel, Isabella De Monte, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Peter Kouroumbashev, Ivo Belet, Miltiadis Kyrkos, Ivica Tolić, Lucy Anderson, Fernando Ruas, Massimiliano Salini, Georgi Pirinski, Inés Ayala Sender, Antonio López-Istúriz White, Roberts Zīle, Salvatore Domenico Pogliese, Franck Proust, Renaud Muselier, Kostadinka Kuneva, Pavel Telička, Merja Kyllönen, Ivan Štefanec, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, Artis Pabriks, József Nagy, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, Eduard Kukan, Daniel Dalton
As of 1 September 2015, one airline group has added a distribution cost charge (DCC) of EUR 16 on tickets purchased through global distribution systems (GDS). The DCC does not apply when tickets are purchased via a reservation system controlled by this airline group. In addition, other airlines have already announced their intention to follow suit, and many others are considering doing so.
The Commission has already received four complaints against the introduction of the DCC in parallel with the launch of the airline’s platform.
Similarly, third country carriers have introduced measures which hamper the ability of price comparison sites based in Europe to display flight information and prices. This limits the exposure of third countries’ airlines to competition.
Both initiatives jeopardise European consumers’ ability to make informed choices. Indeed, they reduce the options available for price comparison, flight information and the booking of connections with multiple airlines. In the end, consumers will pay higher prices for a limited number of air connections.
1. Is the Commission aware that the newly established computerised reservation systems (CRSs) and the unbiased CRS are both regulated under Regulation (EC) No 80/2009[1]?
2. Does the Commission agree that this surcharge undermines passengers’ rights to freely compare and use different distribution channels and is the Commission planning to take action?
3. Will the Commission take action against third country airlines that engage in such activities?
- [1] Regulation (EC) No 80/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on a Code of Conduct for computerised reservation systems and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 2299/89, OJ L 35, 4.2.2009, p. 47.