The European Commission invited, on 10 March, comments from interested parties on commitments proposed by British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia to address concerns that their planned alliance may harm consumers on transatlantic routes. The three airlines, which belong to the Oneworld network, had signed a cooperation agreement allowing passengers the opportunity to benefit from their combined routes between North America and Europe.

These proceedings follow the investigation, opened in April 2009, and the statement of objections sent by the Commission to the three airlines, in September 2009, in which it expressed its concerns that their proposed cooperation, which anticipates shared revenues and jointly managed schedules, capacity and pricing, may infringe EU competition rules. In particular, the parties propose to make available landing and take-off slots at London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports and/or John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to facilitate the entry of competitors on routes to New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami. Furthermore, British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia undertake to provide access to their frequent flyer programmes on the relevant routes, allowing passengers of the qualified new entrants to accrue and redeem miles on the parties’ frequent flyer programmes. The parties also propose to allow fare combinability and offer special prorate agreements in relation to the routes of concern, which would enable competitors to offer tickets on the parties’ flights and facilitate access to connecting traffic. Finally, the parties commit to regularly submit data concerning their cooperation, which would facilitate an evaluation of the alliance’s impact on the markets over time. To monitor the implementation of the commitments, a trustee would be appointed.

Interested parties are invited to submit their comments to the Commission within one month from the date of publication in the Offical Journal ⁽¹⁾. Subject to comments received, the Commission may decide to make the commitments legally binding on British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia, without concluding whether or not there has been or still is an infringement of EU competition rules.

US GREEN LIGHT

In February 2010, this proposal obtained anti-trust immunity in the United States, ie a green light, which requires that, on certain routes between the United States and London Heathrow Airport, the main platform of the Oneworld alliance, four pairs of take-off and landing slots be made available to their competitors.

⁽¹⁾ The text is available at www.europolitics.info > Search = 267994