252 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM c) Harmonisation measures regarding aircraft safety, ticket reservations, pilot’s licenses, pilot flight time limitations, aircraft noise and civil liability for damages. These measures were aimed, as we have specified, to avoid unfair competition, an improvement in aeronautical safety and protection of the interests of consumers23, preventing the monopoly of airlines24. Notwithstanding, this liberalisation is not exempt from public intervention since it is necessary to apply the rules of defence of competition in the aeronautical sector. That is why, with these rules, companies are prevented from making agreements that go against fair competition and are abusive practices, as well as preventing them from being given public aid by favouring some companies to the detriment of others. These aids must be compatible with the common market. Another related issue is to prevent antitrust agreements, that is, anti- -competitive practices that can be carried out through agreements and business practices that restrict competition or abuses of dominant position, as indicated in the Articles 101 and 106 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In Spain’s case, it is necessary to indicate, following the specialised doctrine25, that the restrictions for the freedom of competition before the liberalisation were the difficulties of access to the transport market, the fares subject to administrative intervention, the existing monopoly in services, travellers and goods (handling) and the time control of the route activities, as well as the agreements in which only one company operated for the journeys. The subsequent liberalisation was a determining effect on the increase of services by different companies, in addition to the liberalisation of fares, the plurality of 23 See more widely: CRUCES PASTOR, E. “Sistemas de retribución a las agencias de viaje como intermediadoras en la venta de billetes de transporte aéreo y la libre competencia (breve comentario a la resolución del Tribunal de Defensa de la competencia de 1.º de abril de 2002)”, Aspectos jurídico-mercantiles del turismo, AURIOLES MARTÍN, A. J. (coord.), Atelier, Barcelona, 2003, pp. 119 & ff. 24 ORTIZ BLANCO, L. “Liberación y política comunitaria de defensa de la competencia en el sector del transporte aéreo”, cit., p. 193. Cfr. PAREDES PÉREZ, J. I. “Pluralidad de lugares de prestación de servicios en los contratos de transporte de personas y mercancías”, Cuadernos de derecho transnacional, vol. 11, no. 1, 2019, pp. 478 y ff. Available in: https://e-revistas.uc3m.es/index.php/CDT/article/view/4629/3089 (Consulted on 21 June 2019). 25 GUNDELFINGER CASAR, J. Análisis de los factores determinantes de demanda, competencia y eficiencia del transporte aéreo y el turismo, Tesis doctoral, COTO MILLÁN, P. (dir.), Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, 2018, pp. 37 & ff. Available in: https://repositorio.unican.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10902/13486/Tesis%20JGC. pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (Consulted on 21 June 2019). Cfr. GUNDELFINGER CASAR, J. y COTO MILLÁN, P. “Measuring Conduct in the Spanish Air Transporte Industry”, Revista de Evaluación de Programas y Políticas Públicas, no. 9, 2017, Ejemplar dedicado a Estructura y políticas públicas en el mercado del transporte aéreo, pp. 26-46. Available in: http://revistas.uned.es/index.php/REPPP/article/view/17600/17409 (Consulted on 21 June 2019).
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