Brussels, 10/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 March, the European Commission took a large step towards concluding its investigation into a suspected unlawful agreement on transatlantic flights between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia. The Commission was concerned that a cooperation project between the three airlines over these routes could constitute a cartel and harm consumers, and officially made its accusations in September in a statement of objections. The project went considerably further than traditional agreements between airlines, providing for "revenue-sharing and joint management of schedules, pricing and capacity", the Commission pointed out.
In order to prevent this agreement from being ruled unlawful, the airlines have proposed measures aiming to "facilitate the entry of competitors on routes to New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami". They are also prepared to: - make take-off and landing slots available at the airports of London Heathrow and London Gatwick for flights to Boston, New York, Dallas and Miami; - provide their competitors with operating permissions at JFK airport, New York, for flight connections with London; - offer access to their loyalty programmes on the flight in question.
On Wednesday, the Commission opened a consultation to give the parties concerned the option to take position on these proposals. If the results are positive, the Commission will take a formal decision on making the airlines' proposals obligatory, and close the dossier. A similar method has previously been used in other cases, most notably to end an investigation into suspected abuse of dominant position concerning the American IT group Microsoft and its Internet Explorer browser. (L.C./transl.fl)