The Authority has fined British Airways and Etihad Airways airlines one million Euros for an unfair commercial practice, consisting in the failure to provide consumer with information – during the online purchase procedure of round trip or multiple journey tickets – about the existence, conditions and limitations of the so-called no-show rule, as well as the failure to provide for a suitable procedure to allow passengers to take the inbound flight (and to use the subsequent segments of a multi-segment outbound journey), even though they did not take the outbound flight or they did not use the previous flight segment called for by the originally purchased ticket.

At the same time, the Authority accepted the commitments submitted by Emirates, Iberia and KLM aimed on the one hand at adequately informing consumers about the existence and the application procedures of this rule and, secondly, at implementing a procedure intended to allow the passengers to board on subsequent flights without charge, provided that they had promptly notified the company of their intentions.

The ‘no-show rule’ is a widespread air transport tariff rule, providing that passengers who fail to board on the outbound flight – or, in the case of a multi-segment ticket, the previous flight – are subject to flight cancellation as regard to the inbound/subsequent flight segment covered by the ticket originally purchased, or to the recalculation of the originally paid fare.
The Authority has already indicated (Alitalia, Air France, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines) that the application of the no-show rule – inherently lawful – should be accompanied by appropriate information to customers and implemented by airline companies. This should be done in such a way as to strike a balance between their reasonable business interests in efficiently allocating their resources with the interests of the consumers to make full use of the round or sequential air ticket they have already purchased and duly paid, under clear conditions, transparently communicated by professionals.

This guidance has been endorsed by the State Council in relation to the conduct under assessment in the context of the Alitalia case.

Last November, the Authority initiated similar proceedings as regard the aforementioned air carriers, assuming they had failed to ensure the rights of consumers were respected within the application of the no-show rule.

Upon conclusion of its proceedings, the Authority accepted the commitments submitted by Emirates, Iberia and KLM , who, for all tickets sold in Italy, have been committed to allow the use of the inbound ticket (and, for flights with intermediate stops, the coupons for trips subsequent to the first trip) provided that the passenger notifies within 24 hours from departure (2 hours in case of same-day round trip flights) of their intention to use the inbound ticket (and any subsequent coupons). The existence of the no-show rule and this specific application rule for tickets purchased in Italy will be communicated to both individual consumers during the online purchase procedure, and on the website by means of the FAQs and a suitable amendment to the General Conditions of Carriage herein available.

British Airways and Etihad Airways, on the other hand, did not intend to modify the communication and application procedures of the no-show rule contested in the course of the proceedings and shall nevertheless communicate the actions taken in order to comply with the Authority's notice.

Rome, 23 June 2017