New Distribution Capability (NDC): Debunking theMyths of Anti-competitiveHarm1 Tasman Tam2 1. Introduction; 2. First theory: NDC, as standardisation, constitutes anti-competitive collusion; 3. Second theory: restriction of price competition over airfares; 4. Third theory: excluding GDS at the wholesale/distribution level; 5. Conclusion. 1. INTRODUCTION This paper seeks to examine whether the new XML-based data transmission protocol, i.e., the “New Distribution Capability” (NDC) adopted by IATA Resolution 787, and the ancillary incentive/surcharges scheme, will bring about any anti-competitive harm within the EU competition law framework. It has been 6 years since the US Department of Transport greenlit Resolution 787 (before it even became effective), yet it remains a hotly debated issue globally and especially on both sides of the Atlantic. Without repeating substantially what other chapters of this book may have detailed, it is presupposed that readers already have a brief understanding of the practical (and technical) difference between NDC and the traditional EDIFACT- -based General Distribution Systems (GDS)3, on how travel services are marketed and distributed to consumers. In very simple terms, the change is expected to take the form of upgrading the age-old “green screens” into the kind of web interface that we regularly encounter and are accustomed to seeing nowadays in airline websites or vertical search engines, by the use of Internet coding language. 1 This is the expanded version of the presentation originally titled “NDC & GDS: theories of anti-competitive harm” given at ESHTE | INATEL | Alentejo. International Conference, Estoril, Lisbon 8th and 9th October 2018, New Package Travel Directive and Competition Law in Tourism. In this article, relevant development in NDC is stated as at 1 January 2019 although where possible subsequently developments have also been included. 2 Barrister-at-law, Hong Kong. BBA (Law) and LLB (HKU), LLM (Competition Law) (KCL). Email: tasman.tch@gmail.com. http://www.linkedin.com/in/tasmantam/. 3 The well-known largest 3 of global GDS: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.
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