566 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM Programme Interface (DAS API), based on XML messages (preferred to EDIFACT as more generally used in GDS, which became less practical), shall be developed to implement this IATA standard. Thus, according to IATA, NDC is no more than a messaging standard: “NDC is a way to address the complexity of an airline product under a common standard”7. Most airlines were favourable to IATA’s NDC. Nevertheless, this was not the case for other actors in Europe. Upon adoption of the Resolution 787, some concerns were, inter alia, expressed within the EU in respect of the personal data of European consumers that are likely to be collected under NDC (name, nationality, age, loyalty programme – these are already commonly collected in the travel industry –, but also marital status, past travel history, purpose of the travel, etc.). Article 29, Data Protection Working Party, wrote to IATA in 2013 to express its concerns. However, apart from privacy issues, no other objections to NDC were raised in Europe8. Resolution 787 was especially faced by a fierce opposition from travel agents, who considered that NDC would not allow fare transparency and may even lead to discriminatory pricing by preventing the comparison of fares. Despite critics, most airlines decided to deploy NDC, even if it was a gradual deployment. In September 2018, about 65 airlines deployed NDC9, and GDS finally adopted this new standard too10. Can the NDC be, nonetheless, considered as an anti-competitive agreement between airlines or constitute abuse of a dominant position from IATA? II.3. Analysis of NDC through European Principles on Competition We should begin by referencing the applicable EU principles. These principles are to be found in Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. In respect of anti-competitive agreements, Article 101 provides the following: 7 NDC: Travel agencies enabler to success. Insight into how travel agents see NDC impacting their business. October 2015. 8 It should be noted that in the USA, the Department of Transport (DOT), in a tentative order of 7 May 2014 (https://cms.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/IATA_Res_787_showcause.pdf ) followed by a final order of 6 August 2014, approved the IATA Resolution 787 and NDC. Initially, travel industry (GDS, travel agents associations, etc.) opposed approval of IATA’s application to DOT and claimed inter alia that this could lead to anti-competitive practices. The DOT observed that “the use of common technical standards could facilitate the marketplace development of distribution practices and channels that would make it easier for consumers to compare competing carriers’ fares and ancillary products across multiple distribution channels, make purchasing more convenient, allow carriers to customize service and amenity offers, and increase transparency, efficiency, and competition”. 9 IATA NDC programme update, September 2018. 10 The three main GDS decided to deploy NDC and were finally certified as level 3 NDC aggregators: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==