MEPs back review of air ticket reservation rules

A modernised Code of Conduct for computerised airline reservation systems should do more to stimulate competition, lower costs and offer environmentally-friendly travel alternatives to consumers, according to MEPs.

In a vote on 29 May, the Parliament’s Transport Committee gave its backing to Commission proposals to simplify and modernise the “two-decade-old rules” governing Computerised Reservation Systems (CRSs) in Europe. Such systems are used by high-street and online travel agents to book airline tickets for their customers. 

The existing Code was intended to protect consumers against anti-competitive behaviour in the airline and travel distribution marketplaces at a time when many CRSs were owned by airlines themselves. But Brussels believes it is now outdated, notably due to the huge surge in ticket sales via the internet, and says it could be stifling competition following big changes in airline distribution. 

The Commission has therefore proposed deregulating CRSs and introducing “pricing freedom”, whereby CRS managers and airlines would be able to freely negotiate the fees and conditions of the distribution of air services. 

Preventing anti-competitive abuse

But the original proposal caused outrage among travel groups who said it contained a “dangerous legislative loophole” because “parent carriers” – which the Code would oblige to provide exactly the same information to other CRSs as they do to their own CRS – are defined as “any carrier that owns or effectively controls a CRS”. 

This would effectively mean that carriers like Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa, which together indirectly own 46% of Europe’s largest CRS Amadeus, would not be considered parents because they do not exercise effective control – to the anger of Amadeus’ rivals Galileo and Sabre. “History has proven that even a small percentage of airline ownership in a CRS provides an irresistible economic incentive for abuse,” stressed the Business Travel Coalition. 

MEPs therefore voted to enlarge the definition of “parent carriers” to limit the influence of airlines over CRSs. They also backed plans to make all prices shown in the main display of the CRS to be inclusive of all applicable taxes, charges, surcharges and fees, to protect consumers from nasty surprises. 

Promoting greener alternatives

The committee further called for systems to give increased visibility to alternative train services for all air journeys lasting less than 90 minutes. “The best ranked alternative train services, including connecting services, must be featured on the first screen of the principal display,” they insist. 

What’s more, it introduced an amendment demanding that CRSs contain “easily understandable information about the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of the flight”. This should be expressed in terms of average fuel consumption per person/litre/100km and average CO2 emissions per person/g/km, making it simple for travellers to compare data with alternative train/bus connections for journeys of under five hours. 

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