Revision of EU Air Services Rules: Business Travelers Highlight Key Issues of Concern

GBTA Urges EU Institutions to Effectively Deal with Price Transparency in Aviation

GBTA welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the on-going policy debate on the EU aviation market, launched by the European Commission in the context of its evaluation of European rules governing competition in the internal aviation market.

On 7 June, GBTA submitted its answers to the public consultation launched by the European Commission in this context, and highlighted key issues to be addressed, in particular the need for fair and transparent ticket price policies to be implemented for the benefit of business travelers and the companies they work for.

GBTA stressed that several disruptive practices by airlines, such as unilateral decisions to impose surcharges on bookings made through Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), the increased use of loyalty programmes to outreach directly to travelers and price discrimination on the basis of a traveler’s residence, result in costs increases for business travelers and disruptions in corporate travel management.

Given its contribution to the European Commission’s public consultation, GBTA looks forward to the results of this consultation, and is ready to continue to cooperate with the European Commission on evaluating the benefits and challenges to address in the aviation market in order to ensure that business travelers’ specific concerns are taken into account in any future revision of EU rules.