362 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM the departure and arrival of the aircraft, which allowed, together with the use of the same aircraft, an increase in the daily number of flights; the choice and use of secondary satellite airports of smaller cities, sold as airports of the main city, with a consequent reduction in costs, airport taxes and greater bargaining power; use of variable prices depending on the conditions and time of purchase of the ticket; savings on personnel costs that perform more tasks and shifts; elimination of any service on board that is not an essential element of the transport contract; and, of particular relevance in the matter of baggage, the unbundling from the price of the flight of the cost of transporting the checked baggage. In regards to the last point, usually shipment of the checked baggage corresponds to the payment of a fee, which is often disproportionate to the cost of the main passenger transport service, and at the same time, the reduction of the measures of hand baggage allowed on board makes it necessary to purchase the transport of checked baggage11. The same data provided by the airlines under investigation confirm that, as the general conditions relating to hand luggage changed, the purchase of the supplements necessary to bring “large” baggage into the cabin progressively increased, confirming the essential nature of this service and the preference given by travellers to hand luggage, compared to checked baggage, especially for short journeys (which are usually offered by low-cost airlines). Further, “low-cost carriers adopt an organisational model that, in order to obtain cost, time and human resource savings, compresses the rights and constitutes charges for the passenger. The other traditional companies are also conforming to this model, and in this context, a more intense protection of the consumer of the service is made more and more necessary by means of general terms and conditions that are certain, determined and balanced”12. It is precisely because of the essential nature of this service that the question submitted to the judgment of the Antitrust Authority is examined. 11 M. Deiana, Problematiche giuridiche nel trasporto aereo low-cost, in Dir. Trasp., 2010, pp. 671 et seq. 12 The words are by C. Vignali, Le condizioni generali di contratto nel trasporto aereo di persone (General terms and conditions for the carriage of passengers by air), in C. Vignali (ed.), Trasporti e turismo. Profili privatistici (Transport and tourism. Private law profiles), Milan 2016 p. 184.
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