Luxembourg, 15/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 15 March, the Court of Justice upheld the Commission's decision in (case C-95/04P) that ruled against British Airways and fined the company €6.8bn for abuse of dominant position on the air travel agency services transatlantic market. This ruling constitutes the Court's response to the appeal against the Court of First Instance (T-219/99) which dismissed the British Airways appeal against the Commission's decision. Sanctions have therefore been approved in their entirety as British Airways has now exhausted all possibilities of appeal.
Interviewed by EUROPE, the company explained: “We are disappointed by the Court's decision, however we changed our incentive arrangement to comply with the Commission's decision back in 1999”.
British Airways paid bonuses to its resale teams (particularly the travel agencies) from 1 January 1998 to 31 March 1999. When the latter reached their targets, they were awarded a bonus for each ticket sold, even retroactively. This compensation for a dominant actor makes it very difficult for newcomers to access the resale markets. Alerted by Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1993, the Commission imposed fines in 1999 (200/74/EDC).
The Commission welcomed the Court's ruling. According to DG Competition spokesperson, Jonathan Todd, the judgement is particularly important given that it confirms the implementation of the approach, in keeping with European competition law, based on the effects of the market of the behaviour in question.
Consequently, it has been necessary for the Commission to demonstrate that the practices of British Airways resembled illegal practices, even if they were not identical to behaviour entirely proscribed in legislation, and that they had a similar effect on the market. (cd)