European Commission Inspects TAP Portugal and Brussels Airlines

Posted 20/12/2011

The European Commission has confirmed that company officials undertook unannounced inspections at the premises of Brussels Airlines and TAP Portugal in Belgium and Portugal on December 13 due to concerns that the codeshare partnership between the two flag carriers may breach antitrust rules.

Earlier this year the Commission started proceedings into the possible effects for consumers of the codesharing agreements between the two airlines. In a statement the Commission says it “has concerns” that the agreements “may go further than the sale of seats on routes where the two companies are expected to compete.”

The Commission fears TAP and Brussels Airlines may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and its officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities during their searches of the carriers’ headquarters.  Unannounced inspections are a preliminary step into suspected anticompetitive practices.  However, the fact that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behavior.

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