Competition Law in Tourism

PRACTICES DISTORTING COMPETITION AND REDRESSIVE MEASURES 253 offers and new routes, for the benefit of consumers, by eliminating the existing monopoly by an aerospace company group26. II. REGULATION (EU) 2019/712 According to Law 3/1991, of 10 January, on Unfair Competition27, in its Arts. 5 and 6, any behaviour that is objectively contrary to good faith as well as any behaviour that is suitable to create confusion with the activity and benefits will be considered unfair. The risk of associating consumers with respect to the origin of the benefit is considered enough for the practice to be unfairly based. This must be complemented with the provisions of Law 29/2009, of 30 December, which modifies the legal regime of unfair competition and advertising to improve the protection of consumers and users28. For this reason, in the field of international air transport, competition between companies must be fair, being an indispensable principle in the exploitation of services, as evidenced by Regulation (EU) 2019/712. This Regulation indicates that it is essential that this fair competition is done through good practices, as it connects the different EU Member States as well as Europe with the rest of the world. Consequently, this proper practice among companies favours the economy, since benefits are obtained for the final recipient, which is the consumer (better prices on flights, better conditions, better routes, advantages in the tourist field). Also, with fair practice, transparency, as well as equality in the conditions of the opportunity of the companies, is favoured and has an impact on the service sector29, as noted in Regulation (EU) 2019/712: “The fair competition principle is well established within the Union where market distortive practices are subject to the Union law, which guarantees equal opportunities and fair competition conditions for the Union and for third- -country air carriers operating in the Union”. 26 CONTRERAS DE LA ROSA, I. “Eficiencias competitivas en el mercado aéreo asociadas a los modelos de empleo de las aerolíneas y las nuevas tendencias europeas ante este fenómeno”, Revista de derecho del transporte: Terrestre, marítimo, aéreo y multimodal, no. 22, 2018, pp. 61 & ff. 27 BOE no. 10, 11 January 1991. 28 BOE no. 315, 31 December 2009. 29 GONZÁLEZ PONS, E. “Las prácticas desleales en el transporte aéreo: una perspectiva comparada”, El transporte como motor del desarrollo socieconómico, PETIT LAVALL, M.ª. V. & PUETZ, A. (dir.), Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2018, pp. 651 & ff.

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