AIR TRANSPORT: 11 TICKETING WEBSITES MONITORED
PRESS RELEASE
 Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato |  |
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
AIR TRANSPORT: 11 TICKETING WEBSITES MONITORED. ANTITRUST AUTHORITY USES ‘MORAL SUASION’ TO HAVE UNCLEAR INFORMATION CHANGED IN ORDER TO PROTECT CONSUMERS.
This initiative, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Development, was part of a project launched by the European Commission involving 16 national authorities.
First results are in of the monitoring carried out by the Italian Competition Authority into on-line ticketing sites as part of a European Commission cooperative project being coordinated in Italy by the Ministry of Economic Development. This systematic check (called a “sweep”) was launched last summer and the results are being presented today throughout Europe. The aim is to check that consumer protection rules are being observed and to provide information for both operators and consumers so as to dissuade the former from any improper conduct and to reassure the latter that their rights are being effectively protected.
In Italy, of the 11 airline ticket selling websites placed under observation, seven were found to comply with consumer protection law, three have corrected unclear information thanks to the Antitrust Authority's moral suasion, while for a fourth operator proceedings have been begun for improper commercial practices.
The thorough investigation, launched by the European Commission's Directorate General for Consumer Protection and whose results have been announced today ( "http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/enforcement/sweep/index_en.htm" ), involved, in addition to Italy, 15 of the 27 national Authorities responsible for consumer protection. Europe-wide, the 16 Authorities monitored 386 websites selling air tickets on-line and found irregularities in 137 cases (35% of the total).
The Italian Authority intends in any case to continue keeping an eye on the industry, given the Commission's plan to update its investigation in the spring of 2009.
The sweep concentrated on three basic parameters that that must be satisfied by airlines, but also by on-line tour operators or comparative search engines, in order to allow consumers to choose without the risk of being misled:
1) Clear pricing right from the site's home page
All additional charges, such as taxes or dubious charges having to do with booking or the use of credit cards, must be clearly indicated right from the start instead of being added in a later step of the booking process;
2) Availability of offers
All the conditions of the offer, including any limitations on availability, must be clearly stated. Pricing and special offers are often used to tempt consumers to initiate the booking procedure for a flight when there is only an extremely limited number of places available at the advertised conditions;
3) Fair contract terms
The general contract terms must be clearly stated, easily accessible and equitable. Common unfair practices include obligatory insurance linked to the offer or the case where consumers must explicitly decline an insurance clause rather than spontaneously choosing to sign up for it. The contractual terms and conditions must also be available in the consumer's own language.
The following table presents the sweep results for Italy:
| | Websites checked in September 2007 | Sites found to contain irregularities | Sites corrected after moral suasion | Proceedings under way |
| Airlines | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Travel agents | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Most common irregularities found (some sites contained more than one type of irregularity):
| | Pricing information | Information on the availability of offers | Information on contractual terms | Other |
| Airlines | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Travel agents | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |