Stampa

ASSOCIAZIONE CONSUMATORI UTENTI/ALITALIA (Conclusion of the investigation)


PRESS RELEASE



The Italian Competition Authority concluded its proceeding initiated last February against Alitalia and found that the company enjoyed a dominant position on the market of national air transport.

The Authority based its decision on the following grounds:

(a) Alitalia took advantages in a discriminatory way of the slot clearance activity carried out in the domestic airports;

(b) the airline overlapped its own flight departure times with those of its rivals, Aliadriatica (now named Air One) and Meridiana;

(c) Alitalia imposed on travel agencies not to issue tickets for Aliadriatica/Air One.

The Authority ruled that Alitalia's discriminatory conduct against rival airlines was aimed at preventing, restricting or distorting competition within the market of national air transport. The airline's behaviour is particularly serious in the light of the liberalisation of the national markets and the entry of the Community airlines, starting from April 1997.

First, Alitalia, in consequence of a ministerial circular of 1971 which empowered the airline to manage the slot clearance, adopted discriminatory practices against new rivals in order to maintain its dominant position. To this end, the airline took advantages of the information concerning competing carriers' requests of allocation of airport take-off and landing slots, and interpreted in a discriminatory way both the Community rules regarding airport slot allocation and Linate's airport capacity constraints.

Second, the Authority ascertained the systematic overlapping, on behalf of Alitalia, of its own flight departure times with those of its rivals, Aliadriatica and Meridiana, so as to drive them from the market.

Third and finally, Alitalia, on the occasion of Aliadriatica's access to the Linate-Brindisi, Linate-Lamezia Terme and Linate-Reggio Calabria routes, imposed on travel agencies not to use Alitalia's ticketing - which was the only one available at that time - in case of routes completely served by the rival. This being so, Alitalia hampered Aliadriatica's access to the main distribution channel of the passenger air transport service.

Subsequently, Alitalia desisted from forcing travel agencies not to issue tickets for rivals and ceased to overlap flight departure times, also because the other carriers stopped serving four out of six routes concerned with the overlapping.

With regards to the slot clearance, subsequently to the notification of the statement of objections and before the conclusion of the investigation, Alitalia divested of its power of allocating airport slots, which was given by the Ministry of Public Transport in 1971. Starting from November 5th, 1996, the General Direction of Civil Aviation (Civilavia) was temporarily vested with this power.

The Authority found that Alitalia's conduct referred to in points (a), (b), (c) above, constitutes an abuse of dominant position, in violation of Section 3 of Law no. 287/90. Considering the seriousness of the infringements, the Authority ordered Alitalia to pay an administrative fine for an amount of 415 million lire.

In parallel with the conclusion of the investigation, the Authority submitted an advisory opinion to the Ministry of Public Transport concerning the airport slot clearance activity. Indeed, the Ministry took due note of Alitalia's divestment of its own legal right to allocate slots and, as such, informed that, in expectation of the institution of another agency in order to carry out this activity, Civilavia would have co-ordinated slot allocation, starting from last November 5th. In its advisory opinion, the Authority considered two relevant aspects for the creation of the new agency.

Firstly, the Authority deems that the neutrality of the party empowered to co-ordinate slot allocation could be ensured through the establishment of an agency within which interests of both airline operators (domestic, international and new entrants) and airport managers can be balanced effectively. This goal can be achieved only if all the airline operators - including new entrants - are able to participate to the new body on the same terms.

In addition, the Authority highlights that new agency's independence would be strengthened and anti-competitive effects would be reduced, if the institution of the new organization would be accompanied with a reduction of the uncertainty affecting some aspects of the airport slot allocation. Indeed, Regulation EEC 95/93 does not always provide for precise indications as regards procedures to comply with in order to allocate slots. As a result of this situation, a restrictive interpretation of certain aspects of airport slot allocation prevails, as it was demonstrated by the findings of this investigation regarding Alitalia's abusive conduct.