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COMPETITION LAW
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Allowing Competition to the Extent that is Necessary for Achieving
the Aims Mentioned Herein Above
As envisaged in Art. 5 of the Competition Act, it is required that in
order to achieve the aims and meet the set targets, the competition should
not be restricted more than necessary.
The fundamental aims of the alliance in subject of the notification are
(i) to decrease the service prices by providing cost efficiencies through
economics of scope and concentration that would be achieved with the
alliance, and (ii) to deliver services with quality by means of the synergy
and effective information transmission between the parties.
In an attempt to examine these aims, we may ascertain that both
measures are highly likely to increase the preference of consumers to
select the service of member airline companies. At this point, the Board
evaluated that if there are less restrictive ways to achieve these aims.
The main issues, which have restrictive elements, in this case are the
coordination of tariffs and capacity between the parties, the coordination
of price arrangement and income management and the coordination of
frequent flyer programs.
The Board decided that the competition is not restricted more than
necessary, taking into consideration that the above-mentioned issues have
outcomes for the benefit of the consumers.
Conclusion and Evaluations
The Board decided to grant individual exemption to the agreements
subject to notification.
To this end by taken into consideration the recent investigations and
sectoral examinations, it would be acknowledged that the aviation sector
is one of the sectors under the scrutiny of the Board that is focused on
meticulously, for the sake of protection of competition. Alliance in subject
is achieved by global and intercontinental factors in the relevant market.
From this point of view, it is vitally important for the maintenance and
protection of the competition in the aviation market in general. Thus, the
decision of the Board in this case is notable.