European associations call on the Commission to scrutinise potential anti-competitive effects of airline consolidation
In a joint letter to EU Executive Vice-President & Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, industry bodies representing European consumers, passengers, air ticket intermediaries and airports flagged the potential risks for competition and consumer choice from the recent wave of airline consolidation.
The European Consumer Organisation, the European Passengers’ Federation, the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association, eu travel tech and ACI EUROPE called for safeguards to be put in place to protect a competitive airline market in Europe, warning that large and increasingly dominant airline groups have formed in successive mergers.
The letter underlines that concentration is now set to increase with several acquisitions being assessed by the European Commission. This wave of airline consolidation could drastically limit competition on thousands of connections, giving more leeway to market dominant players to develop and abuse their positions at the expense of European travellers. The fact that many European airports are or will become congested combined with outdated EU airport slot allocation rules only adds to these concerns.
The signatories called on the Commission to spare no tool in ensuring that the operations submitted to its review are considered against any potential anti-competitive effect, and that significant remedies be put in place in case such mergers are incompatible with the common market.
Links
- Letter to Commissioner Vestager: Europe’s consumers deserve a competitive European airline market
