274 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM On the one hand, the measures adopted in this case are reasonable and consistent with an exact interpretation of the EU case laws42. On the other hand, this initiative has had wide resonance and has been consistent with the overall trend of our Consumer Code, as it has linked the protection of tourists to the enhancement of the market structure, by means of administrative measures pertaining to various subjects operating in the same conditions and preventing the proliferation of legal action for small amounts of money. The sanctioning procedure has not yet been concluded, but it is quite likely that the Authority will not change its opinion, without prejudice for any final measure applied by the Administrative Law Court judge in the final decision. This seems to be the company’s strategy: defend its position in court. 3. FLIGHT CANCELLATION Another interesting measure is the procedure by the Competition Authority43 against, once again, a well-known Irish airline, to verify whether incorrect practices, in compliance with Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Consumer Code are being followed with regard to the “cancellation of flights already booked and paid for in the period from 10 September to 2 October 2017 for reasons that can be ascribed to the carrier and are therefore not due to occasional and technical – operating events”44, with serious inconvenience to passengers. The trips were either to or from Italy. In particular, the Authority’s intervention focussed on the methods with which the company had informed travellers of the rights provided for by Regulation (EC) no. 261/200445 in the matter of financial compensation 42 See Court of Justice, section V, 18 September 2014, causa C – 487/12, Vueling airlines sa c. Instituto galego de consumo de la xunta de Galicia, cit. 43 See the action taken by the Italian Competition Authority on 29 May 2018, no. 27191, in Boll., no. 22 of 11 June 2018. 44 Such is the text of the action taken by the Italian Competition Authority of on 29 May 2018, no. 27191, cit. 45 See Arlotta, Nuovi diritti del passeggero in caso di overbooking, cancellazione del volo o prolungato ritardo, in Dir. tur., 2004, 172 and following; Deiana, Riflessioni sulla sovra prenotazione nel trasporto aereo, in Aa. Vv., Studi su negato imbarco, cancellazione del volo e ritardo nel trasporto aereo, a cura di Deiana, Cagliari, 2005, 27 and following; Fragola, Prime note sul Regolamento CEE no. 261/2004 che istituisce nuove norme comuni in materia di “overbooking” aereo, in Dir. comm. int., 2005, 129 and following; Fiore, La cancellazione del volo e le sanzioni amministrative a carico del vettore che ha compensato e assistito i passeggeri, in Dir. tur., 2009, 214 and following; L. Tullio, Overbooking, cancellazione del volo e ritardo nel trasporto aereo, in Aa. Vv., Studi su negato imbarco, cancellazione del volo e ritardo nel trasporto aereo, cit., 9 and following; Zampone, La responsabilità del vettore aereo per negato imbarco, cancellazione del volo, in Aa. Vv., Studi su negato imbarco, cancellazione del volo e ritardo nel trasporto aereo, cit., 55 and following; Ancis, Informazione e assistenza del passeggero nel trasporto aereo, Napoli, 2017, 202 and following.
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