1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 2299/89
of 24 July 1989
on a code of conduct for computerized reservation systems
(OJ L 220, 29.7.1989, p. 1)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►M1 CouncilRegul ation (EEC) No 3089/93 of 29 October 1993 L 278 1 11.11.1993
►M2 CouncilRegul ation (EC) No 323/1999 of 8 February 1999 L 40 1 13.2.1999
Corrected by:
►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 17, 25.1.1995, p. 18 (3089/93)
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncilRegul ation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
▼B
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 2299/89
of 24 July 1989
on a code of conduct for computerized reservation systems
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposalfrom the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and SocialCommittee (3),
Whereas the bulk of airline reservations are made through computerized
reservation systems;
Whereas such systems can, if properly used, provide an important and
useful service to air carriers, travel agents and the travelling public by
affording easy access to up-to-date and accurate information on flights,fares and seat availability, making reservations and, in some cases,issuing tickets and boarding passes;
Whereas abuses in the form of denialof access to the systems or
discrimination in the provision, loading or display of data orunreasonable conditions imposed on participants or subscribers canseriously disadvantage air carriers, travel agents and ultimately
consumers;
Whereas this Regulation is without prejudice to the application of
Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty;
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2672/88 (
4) exempts for the
provisions of Article 85 (1) of the Treaty agreements for the commonpurchase, development and operation of computerized reservation
systems;
Whereas a mandatory code of conduct applicable to all computerized
reservation systems and/or distribution facilities offered for use and/or
used in the Community could ensure that such systems are used in a
non-discriminatory and transparent way, subject to certain safeguards, soavoiding their misuse while reinforcing undistorted competition betweenair carriers and between computerized reservation systems and therebyprotecting the interests of consumers;
Whereas it would not be appropriate to impose obligations on a
computerized reservation system vendor or on a parent or participatingcarrier in respect of an air carrier of a third country which, alone or
jointly with others, owns and/or controls another such system which
does not conform with this code or offer equivalent treatment;
Whereas a complaints investigation and enforcement procedure for non-
compliance with such a code is desirable,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
This Regulation shall apply to any computerised reservation system,
insofar as it contains air-transport products and insofar as rail-transport
products are incorporated in its principaldispl ay, when offered for useor used in the territory of the Community, irrespective of:
— the status or nationality of the system vendor,1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 294, 18. 11. 1988, p. 12.
(2) OJ No C 158, 26. 6. 1989.
(3) OJ No C 56, 6. 3. 1989, p. 32.
(4) OJ No L 239, 30. 8. 1988, p. 13.▼M2
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— the source of the information used or the location of the relevant
centraldata processing unit,
— the geographicall ocation of the airports between which air carriage
takes place.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘unbundled air transport product’ means the carriage by air of a
passenger between two airports, including any related ancillary
services and additional benefits offered for sale and/or sold as an
integralpart of that product;
(b) ‘bundled air transport product’ means a prearranged combination of
an unbundled air transport product with other services not ancillaryto air transport, offered for sale and/or sold at an inclusive price;
(c) ‘air transport product’ means both unbundled and bundled air
transport products;
(d) ‘scheduled air service’ means a series of flights all possessing the
following characteristics;
— performed by aircraft for the transport of passengers or
passengers and cargo and/or mailfor remuneration, in such amanner that seats are available on each flight for individualpurchase by consumers either directly from the air carrier orfrom its authorized agents),
— operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more
points, either;
1. according to a published timetable: or
2. with flights so regular or frequent that they constitute a
recognizably systematic series;
(e) ‘fare’ means the price to be paid for unbundled air transport
products and the conditions under which this price applies;
(f) ‘computerized reservation system’ (CRS) means a computerized
system containing information about, inter alia, air carriers'
— schedules,
— availability,— fares, and— related services,
with or without facilities through which:
— reservations may be made, or
— tickets may be issued,
to the extent that some or all of these services are made available to
subscribers;
(g) ‘distribution facilities’ means facilities provided by a system vendor
for the provision of information about air carriers' schedules,
availability, fares and related services and for making reservations
and/or issuing tickets, and for any other related services;
(h) ‘system vendor’ means any entity and its affilates which is or are
responsible for the operation or marketing of a CRS;
(i) ‘parent carrier’ means any air carrier which directly or indirectly,
alone or jointly with others, owns or effectively controls a systemvendor, as well as any air carrier which it owns or effectivelycontrols;
(j) ‘effective control’ means a relationship constituted by rights,
contracts or any other means which, either separately or jointly andhaving regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, conferthe possibility of directly or indirectly exercising a decisive
influence on an undertaking, in particular by:
— the right to use all or part of the assets of an undertaking,1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 3
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— rights or contracts which confer a decisive influence on the
composition, voting or decisions of the bodies of an undertakingor otherwise confer a decisive influence on the running of the
business of the undertaking;
(k) ‘participating carrier’ means an air carrier which has an agreement
with a system vendor for the distribution of air transport productsthrough a CRS. To the extent that a parent carrier uses the facilitiesof its own CRS which are covered by this Regulation, it shall beconsidered a participating carrier;
(l) ‘subscriber’ shall mean a person, other than a consumer, or an
undertaking, other than a participating carrier, using a CRS undercontract or other financialarrangement with a system vendor. A
financialarrangement shal lbe deemed to exist where a specific
payment is made for the services of the system vendor or where anair-transport product is purchased;
(m) ‘consumer’ shall mean any person seeking information about or
intending to purchase an air-transport product for private use;
(n) ‘principal display’ means a comprehensive neutral display of data
concerning air services between city-pairs, within a specified timeperiod;
(o) ‘elapsed journey time’ means the time difference between
scheduled departure and arrival time;
(p) ‘service enhancement’ means any product or service offered by a
system vendor on its own behalf to subscribers in conjunction with
a CRS, other than distribution facilities;
(q) ‘unbundled rail-transport product’ shall mean the carriage of a
passenger between two stations by rail, including any related
ancillary services and additional benefits offered for sale or sold as
an integralpart of that product;
(r) ‘bundled rail-transport product’ shall mean a pre-arranged combi-
nation of an unbundled rail-transport product with other services notancillary to rail transport, offered for sale or sold at an inclusiveprice;
(s) ‘rail-transport product’ shall mean both unbundled and bundled rail-
transport products;
(t) ‘ticket’ shall mean a valid document giving entitlement to transport
or an equivalent in paperless, including electronic, form issued or
authorised by the carrier or its authorised agent;
(u) ‘duplicate reservation’ shall mean a situation which arises when two
or more reservations are made for the same passenger when it isevident that the passenger will not be able to use more than one.
Article 3
1. A system vendor shall have the capacity, in its own name as a
separate entity from the parent carrier, to have rights and obligations ofall kinds, to make contracts, inter alia with parent carriers, participating
carriers and subscribers, or to accomplish other legal acts and to sue andbe sued.
2. A system vendor shall allow any air carrier the opportunity to
participate, on an equaland non-discriminatory basis, in its distributionfacilities within the available capacity of the system concerned and
subject to any technicalconstraints outside the controlof the system
vendor.
3. (a) A system vendor shall not:
— attach unreasonable conditions to any contract with a
participating carrier,1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 4
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— require the acceptance of supplementary conditions which, by
their nature or according to commercialusage, have noconnection with participation in its CRS and shall apply the
same conditions for the same level of service.
(b) A system vendor shall not make it a condition of participation in
its CRS that a participating carrier may not at the same time be aparticipant in another system.
(c) A participating carrier may terminate its contract with a system
vendor on giving notice which need not exceed six months, toexpire not before the end of the first year.
In such a case a system ►
C1the vendor shall not be entitled to
recover◄more than the costs directly related to the termination
of the contract.
4. If a system vendor has decided to add any improvement to the
distribution facilities provided or the equipment used in the provision ofthe facilities, it shall provide information on and offer theseimprovements to all participating carriers, including parent carriers,with equaltimel ines and on the same terms and conditions, subject toany technicalconstraints outside the controlof the system vendor, and in
such a way that there will be no difference in leadtime for the
implementation of the new improvements between parent andparticipating carriers.
Article 3a
1. (a) A parent carrier may not discriminate against a competing CRS
by refusing to provide the latter, on request and with equaltimeliness, with the same information on schedules, fares andavailability relating to its own air services as that which itprovides to its own CRS or to distribute its air transport products
through another CRS, or by refusing to accept or to confirm with
equaltimel iness a reservation made through a competing CRS forany of its air transport products which are distributed through itsown CRS. The parent carrier shall be obliged to accept and toconfirm only those bookings which are in conformity with itsfares and conditions.
(b) The parent carrier shall not be obliged to accept any costs in this
connection except for reproduction of the information to beprovided and for accepted bookings. The booking fee payable toa CRS for an accepted booking made in accordance with this
Article shall not exceed the fee charged by the same CRS to
participating carriers for an equivalent transaction.
(c) The parent carrier shall be entitled to carry out controls to ensure
that Article 5 (1) is respected by the competing CRS.
2. The obligation imposed by this Article shall not apply in favour of
a competing CRS when, in accordance with the procedures of Article 11,
it has been decided that that CRS is in breach of Article 4a or of Article
6 concerning parent carriers' unauthorised access to information.
Article 4
1. Participating carriers and other providers of air transport products
shall ensure that the data which they decide to submit to a CRS are
accurate, non-misleading, transparent and no less comprehensive thanfor any other CRS. The data shall, inter alia , enable a system vendor to
meet the requirements of the ranking criteria as set out in the Annex.
Data submitted via intermediaries shall not be manipulated by them in a
manner which would lead to inaccurate, misleading or discriminatoryinformation.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 5
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The principles stated in the first and second subparagraphs shall apply to
railservices in respect of data provided for incl usion in the principaldisplay.
2. A system vendor shall not manipulate the material referred to in
paragraph 1 in a manner which would lead to the provision ofinaccurate, misleading or discriminatory information.
3. A system vendor shall load and process data provided by
participating carriers with equal care and timeliness, subject only tothe constraints of the loading method selected by individual participatingcarriers and to the standard formats used by the said vendor.
Article 4a
1. Loading and/or processing facilities provided by a system vendor
shall be offered to all parent and participating carriers without
discrimination. Where relevant and generally accepted air transportindustry standards are available, system vendors shall offer facilitiescompatible with them.
2. A system vendor shall not reserve any specific loading and/or
procesing procedure or any other distribution facility for one or more of
its parent carrier(s).
3. A system vendor shall ensure that its distribution facilities are
separated, in a clear and verifiable manner, from any carrier's privateinventory and management and marketing facilities. Separation may be
established either logically by means of software or physically in such a
way that any connection between the distribution facilities and theprivate facilities may be achieved by means of an application-to-application interface only. Irrespective of the method of separationadopted, any such interface shall be made available to all parent andparticipating carriers on a non-discriminatory basis and shall provide
equality of treatment in respect of procedures, protocols, inputs and
outputs. Where relevant and generally accepted air transport industrystandards are available, system vendors shall offer interfaces compatiblewith them.
4. The system vendor shall ensure that any third parties providing
CRS services in whole or in part on its behalf comply with the relevantprovisions of this Regulation.
Article 5
1. (a) Displays generated by a CRS shall be clear and non-discrimina-
tory.
(b) A system vendor shall not intentionally or negligently display
inaccurate or misleading information in its CRS.
2. (a) A system vendor shall provide a principal display or displays for
each individual transaction through its CRS and shall includetherein the data provided by participating carriers on flight
schedules, fare types and seat availability in a clear and
comprehensive manner and without discrimination or bias, inparticular as regards the order in which information is presented.
(b) A consumer shall be entitled to have, on request, a principal
display limited to scheduled or non-scheduled services only.
(c) No discrimination on the basis of airports serving the same city
shall be exercised in constructing and selecting flights for a given
city-pair for inclusion in a principal display.
(d) Ranking of flight options in a principal display shall be as set out
in the Annex.
(e) Criteria to be used for ranking shall not be based on any factor
directly or indirectly relating to carrier identity and shall beapplied on a non-discriminatory basis to all participating carriers.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 6
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3. Where a system vendor provides information on fares, the display
shall be neutral and non-discriminatory and shall contain at least thefares provided for all flights of participating carriers shown in the
principal display. The source of such information shall be acceptable to
the participating carrier(s) and system vendor concerned.
4. Information on bundled products regarding, inter alia , who is
organizing the tour, availability and prices, shall not be featured in theprincipaldispl ay.
5. A CRS shall not be considered in breach of this Regulation to the
extent that it changes a display in order to meet the specific request(s) ofa consumer.
Article 6
1. The following provisions shall govern the availability of informa-
tion, statisticalor otherwise, by a system vendor from its CRS:
(a) information concerning identifiable individual bookings shall be
provided on an equalbasis and onl y to the air carrier or carriers
participating in the service covered by and to the subscribersinvolved in the booking.
Information under the controlof the system vendor concerning
identifiable individual bookings shall be archived off-line within
seventy-two hours of the completion of the last element in the
individualbooking and destroyed within three years. Access to suchdata shall be allowed only for billing-dispute reasons.
(b) any marketing, booking and sales data made available shall be on
the basis that:
(i) such data are offered with equaltimel iness and on a non-
discriminatory basis to all participating carriers, includingparent carriers;
(ii) such data may and, on request, shall cover all participating
carriers and/or subscribers, but shall include no identification,either directly or indirectly, of, or personal information on a
passenger or a corporate user;
(iii) all requests for such data are treated with equal care and
timeless, subject to the transmission method selected by the
individualcarrier;
(iv) information is made available on request to participating carriers
and subscribers both globally and selectively with regard to the
market in which they operate;
(v) a group of airlines and/or subscribers is entitled to purchase data for
common processing.
2. A system vendor shall not make personal information concerning a
passenger available to others not involved in the transaction without theconsent of the passenger.
3. A system vendor shall ensure that the provisions in paragraphs 1
and 2 above are complied with, by technical means and/or appropriatesafeguards regarding at least software, in such a way that informationprovided by or created for air carriers can in no way be accessed by one
or more of the parent carriers except as permitted by this Article.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 7
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Article 7
1. The obligations of a system vendor under Articles 3 and 4 to 6
shall not apply in respect of a parent carrier of a third country to theextent that its CRS outside the territory of the Community does not offer
Community air carriers equivalent treatment to that provided under this
Regulation and under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 83/91 (
1).
2. The obligations of parent or participating carriers under Articles
3a, 4 and 8 shall not apply in respect of a CRS controlled by (an) air
carrier(s) of one or more third country (countries) to the extent thatoutside the territory of the Community the parent or participatingcarrier(s) is (are) not accorded equivalent treatment to that providedunder this Regulation and under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 83/
91.
3. A system vendor or an air carrier proposing to availitsel f of the
provisions of paragraphs 1 or 2 must notify the Commission of itsintentions and the reasons therefor at least 14 days in advance of such
action. In exceptionalcircumstances, the Commission may, at the
request of the vendor or the air carrier concerned, grant a waiver fromthe 14-day rule.
4. Upon receipt of a notification, the Commission shall without delay
determine whether discrimination within the meaning of paragraphs 1and 2 exists. If this is found to be the case, the Commission shall soinform all system vendors or the air carriers concerned in theCommunity as well as Member States. If discrimination within the
meaning of paragraph 1 or 2 does not exist, the Commission shall so
inform the system vendor or air carriers concerned.
5. (a) In cases where serious discrimination within the meaning of
paragraph 1 or 2 is found to exist, the Commission may by
decision instruct CRSs to modify their operations
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C1appropriately in order ◄to terminate such discrimination.
The Commission shall immediately inform Member States ofsuch a decision.
(b) Unless the Council, at the request of a Member State, takes
another decision within two months of the date of theCommission's decision, the latter shall enter into force.
Article 8
1. A parent carrier shall neither directly nor indirectly link the use of
any specific CRS by a subscriber with the receipt of any commission orother incentive or disincentive for the sale of air transport productsavailable on its flights.
2. A parent carrier shall neither directly nor indirectly require use of
any specific CRS by a subscriber for sale or issue of tickets for any airtransport products provided either directly or indirectly by itself.
3. Any condition which an air carrier may require of a travelagent
when authorizing it to sell and issue tickets for its air transport productsshall be without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2.
Article 9
1. A system vendor shall make any of the distribution facilities of a
CRS available to any subscriber on a non-discriminatory basis.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 8
(1) OJ No L 10, 15. 1. 1991, p. 9.▼B
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2. A system vendor shall not require a subscriber to sign an exclusive
contract, nor directly or indirectly prevent a subscriber from subscribingto, or using, any other system or systems.
3. A service enhancement offered to any other subscriber shall be
offered by the system vendor to all subscribers on a non-discriminatorybasis.
4. (a) A system vendor shall not attach unreasonable conditions to any
subscriber contract allowing for the use of its CRS and, inparticular, a subscriber may terminate its contract with a systemvendor by giving notice which need not exceed three months, toexpire not before the end of the first year.
In such a case, a system vendor shall not be entitled to recover
more than the costs directly related to the termination of thecontract.
(b) Subject to paragraph 2, the supply of technical equipment is not
subject to the conditions set out in (a).
5. A system vendor shall provide in each subscriber contract for:
(a) the principal display, conforming to Article 5, to be accessed for
each individualtransaction, except where a consumer requests
information for only one air carrier or where the consumer requests
information for bundled air transport products alone;
(b) the subscriber not to manipulate material supplied by CRSs in a
manner which would lead to inaccurate, misleading or discrimina-
tory presentation of information to consumers.
6. A system vendor shall not impose an obligation on a subscriber to
accept an offer of technicalequipment or software, but may require thatequipment and software used be compatible with its own system.
Article 9a
1. (a) In the case of information provided by a CRS, a subscriber shall
use a neutral display in accordance with Article 5(2)(a) and (b)unless another display is required to meet a preference indicatedby a consumer.
(b) No subscriber shall manipulate information provided by a CRS in
a manner that leads to inaccurate, misleading or discriminatorypresentation of that information to any consumer.
(c) A subscriber shall make reservations and issue tickets in
accordance with the information contained in the CRS used, oras authorised by the carrier concerned.
(d) A subscriber shall inform each consumer of any en route changes
of equipment, the number of scheduled en route stops, theidentity of the air carrier actually operating the flight, and of anychanges of airport required in any itinerary provided, to the extentthat that information is present in the CRS. The subscriber shall
inform the consumer of the name and address of the system
vendor, the purposes of the processing, the duration of theretention of individual data and the means available to the datasubject of exercising his access rights.
(e) A consumer shall be entitled at any time to have a print-out of the
CRS display or to be given access to a parallel CRS displayreflecting the image that is being displayed to the subscriber.
(f) A person shall be entitled to have effective access free of charge
to his own data regardless of whether the data is stored by theCRS or by the subscriber.
2. A subscriber shall use the distribution facilities of a CRS in
accordance with Annex II.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 9
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Article 10
1. (a) Any fee charged to a participating carrier by a system vendor
shall be non-discriminatory, reasonably structured and reasonablyrelated to the cost of the service provided and used and shall, inparticular, be the same for the same level of service.
The billing for the services of a CRS shall be sufficiently detailed
to allow the participating carriers to see exactly which serviceshave been used and the fees therefor; as a minimum, booking feebills shall include the following information for each segment:
— type of CRS booking,
— passenger name,— country,
— IATA/ARC agency identification code,
— city-code,
— city pair of segment,
— booking date (transaction date),— flight date,
— flight number,
— status code (booking status),
— service type (class of service),
— passenger name record (PNR) locator, and— booking/cancellation indicator.
The billing information shall be offered on magnetic media. The
fee to be charged for the billing information provided in the formchosen by the carrier shall not exceed the cost of the mediumitself together with its transportation costs.
A participating air carrier shall be offered the facility of being
informed when any booking or transaction is made for which abooking fee will be charged. Where a carrier elects to be soinformed, it shall be offered the option of disallowing any suchbooking or transaction, unless the latter has already been
accepted. In the event of such a disallowance, the air carrier
shall not be charged for that booking or transaction.
(b) Any fee for equipment rentalor other service charged to a
subscriber by a system vendor shall be non-discriminatory,reasonably structured and reasonably related to the cost of theservice provided and used and shall, in particular, be the same for
the same level of service. Productivity benefits awarded to
subscribers by system vendors in the form of discount on rentalcharges or commission payments shall be deemed to bedistribution costs of the system vendors and shall be based onticketed segments. When, subject to paragraph 5 of Annex II the
system vendor does not know whether a ticket has been issued or
not, then that system vendor shall be entitled to rely uponnotification of the ticket number from the subscriber.
The billing for the services of a CRS shall be sufficiently detailed
to allow subscribers to see exactly which services have been usedand what fees have been charged therefor.
2. A system vendor shall, on request, provide interested parties,
including consumers, with details of current procedures, fees and system
facilities, including interfaces, editing and display criteria used. For
consumers that information shall be free of charge and cover theprocessing of individualdata. This provision shal lnot, however, requirea system vendor to disclose proprietary information such as software.
3. Any changes to fee levels, conditions or facilities offered and the
basis therefor shall be communicated to all participating carriers andsubscribers on a non-discriminatory basis.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 10
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Article 11
1. Acting on receipt of a complaint or on its own initiative, the
Commission shall initiate procedures to terminate infringement of the
provisions of this Regulation.
2. Complaints may be submitted by:
(a) Member States;
(b) natural or legal persons who claim a legitimate interest.
3. The Commission shall immediately forward to the Member States
copies of the complaints and applications and of all relevant documentssent to it or which it sends out in the course of such procedures.
Article 12
1. In carrying out the duties assigned to it by this Regulation, the
Commission may obtain all necessary information from the Member
States and from undertakings and associations of undertakings.
2. The Commission may fix a time limit of not less than one month
for the communication of the information requested.
3. When sending a request for information to an undertaking or
association of undertakings, the Commission shall forward a copy of therequest at the same time to the Member State in whose territory the head
office of the undertaking or association of undertakings is situated.
4. In its request, the Commission shall state the legal basis and
purpose of the request and also the penalties for supplying incorrectinformation provided for in Article 16 (1).
5. The owners of the undertakings or their representatives and, in the
case of legal persons or of companies, firms or associations not havinglegal personality, the person authorized to represent them by law or by
their rules shall be bound to supply the information requested.
Article 13
1. In carrying out the duties assigned to it by this Regulation, the
Commission may undertake all necessary investigations into under-
takings and associations of undertakings. To this end, officialsauthorized by the Commission shall be empowered:
(a) to examine the books and other business records;
(b) to take copies of, or extracts from, the books and business records;
(c) to ask for oralexpl anations on the spot;
(d) to enter any premises, land and vehicles used by undertakings or
associations of undertakings.
2. The authorized officials of the Commission shall exercise their
powers upon production of an authorization in writing specifying thesubject matter and purpose of the investigation and the penaltiesprovided for in Article 16 (1) in cases where production of the requiredbooks or other business records is incomplete. In good time before theinvestigation, the Commission shall inform the Member State, in whose
territory the same is to be made, of the investigation and the identity of
the authorized officials.
3. Undertakings and associations of undertakings shall submit to
investigations ordered by decision of the Commission. The decisionshall specify the subject matter and purpose of the investigation, appointthe date on which it is to begin and indicate the penalties provided for in
Article 16 (1) and the right to have the decision reviewed in the Court of
Justice.
4. The Commission shall take the decisions mentioned in paragraph 3
after consultation with the Member State in the territory of which theinvestigation is to be made.
5. Officials of the Member State in the territory of which
investigation is to be made may assist the Commission officials in1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 11
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carrying out their duties, at the request of the Member State or of the
Commission.
6. Where an undertaking opposes an investigation ordered pursuant to
this Article, the Member State concerned shall afford the necessaryassistance to the officials authorized by the Commission to enable themto make their investigation.
Article 14
1. Information acquired as a result of the application of Articles 12
and 13 shall be used only for the purposes of the relevant request orinvestigation.
2. Without prejudice to Articles 11 and 20, the Commission and the
competent authorities of the Member States, their officials and other
servants shall not disclose information of a kind covered by the
obligation of professional secrecy which has been acquired by them as aresult of the application of this Regulation.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not prevent publication of general
information or of surveys which do not contain information relating to
particular undertakings or associations of undertakings.
Article 15
1. When an undertaking or association of undertakings does not
supply the information requested within the time limit fixed by theCommission or supplies incomplete information, the Commission shall
by decision require the information to be supplied. The decision shall
specify what information is required, fix an appropriate time limit withinwhich it is to be supplied and indicate the penalties provided for inArticle 16 (1) as well as the right to have the decision reviewed by theCourt of Justice.
2. At the same time the Commission shall send a copy of its decision
to the competent authority of the Member State in the territory of whichthe head office of the undertaking or association of undertakings issituated.
Article 16
1. The Commission may, by decision, impose fines on undertakings
or associations of undertakings from ECU 1 000 to 50 000 where,intentionally or negligently:
(a) they supply incorrect information in response to a request made
pursuant to Article 12 or do not supply information within the time
limit fixed;
(b) they produce the required books or other business records in
incomplete form during investigations or refuse to submit to an
investigation pursuant to Article 13 (1).
2. The Commission may, by decision, impose fines on system
vendors, parent carriers, participating carriers and/or subscribers forinfringements of this Regulation up to a maximum of 10 % of the annual
turnover for the relevant activity of the undertaking concerned.
In fixing the amount of the fine, regard shall be had both to the
seriousness and to the duration of the infringement.
3. Decisions taken pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not be of a
penalnature.
Article 17
The Court of Justice shall have unlimited jurisdiction within the
meaning of Article 172 of the Treaty to review decisions whereby theCommission has imposed a fine; it may cancel, reduce or increase thefine.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 12
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Article 18
For the purposes of applying Article 16, the ecu shall be that adopted in
drawing up the generalbudget of the European Communities inaccordance with Articles 207 and 209 of the Treaty.
Article 19
1. Before taking decisions pursuant to Article 11 or 16, the
Commission shall give the undertakings or associations of undertakingsconcerned the opportunity of being heard on the matters to which the
Commission takes or has taken objection.
2. Should the Commission or the competent authorities of the
Member States consider it necessary, they may also hear other natural or
legal persons. Applications by such persons to be heard shall be grantedwhen they show a sufficient interest.
Article 20
1. The Commission shall publish the decisions which it adopts
pursuant to Article 16.
2. Such publication shall state the names of the parties and the main
content of the decision; it shall have regard to the legitimate interest ofundertakings in the protection of their business secrets.
Article 21
1. Neither Article 5, Article 9(5) nor the Annexes shall apply to a
CRS used by an air carrier or a group of air carriers:
(a) in its or their own office or offices and sales counters clearly
identified as such;
or
(b) to provide information and/or distribution facilities accessible
through a public telecommunications network, clearly and continu-
ously identifying the information provider or providers as such.
2. Where booking is performed directly by an air carrier, that air
carrier shall be subject to Article 9a(d) and (f).
Article 21a
1. The system vendor shall ensure that the technical compliance of its
CRS with Articles 4a and 6 is monitored by an independent auditor on a
calendar year basis. For that purpose, the auditor shall be granted accessat all times to any programmes, procedures, operations and safeguardsused on the computers or computer systems through which the systemvendor provides its distribution facilities. Each system vendor shall
submit its auditor's report on his inspection and findings to the
Commission within four months of the end of the calendar year underreview. The Commission shall examine those reports with a view totaking any action necessary in accordance with Article 11(1).
2. The system vendor shall inform participating cariers and the
Commission of the identity of the auditor at least three months beforeconfirmation of an appointment and at least three months before each
annualreappointment. If, within one month of notification, any of the
participating carriers objects to the capability of the auditor to carry outthe tasks as required under this Article, the Commission shall, within afurther two months and after consultation with the auditor, the systemvendor and any other party claiming a legitimate interest, decidewhether or not the auditor is to be replaced.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 13
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Article 21b
1. Subject to this Article, this Regulation shall apply to the inclusion
of rail-transport products.
2. A system vendor may decide to include rail services in the
principaldispl ay of its CRS.
3. Where a system vendor decides to include rail products in the
principal display of its CRS, it shall choose to include certain well-
defined categories of rail services, while respecting the principles statedin Article 3(2).
4. A rail-transport operator shall be deemed to be a participating or
parent carrier, as appropriate, for the purposes of the code, insofar as ithas an agreement with a system vendor for the distribution of itsproducts through the principaldispl ay of a CRS or its own reservation
system is a CRS as defined in Article 2(f). Subject to paragraph 5, those
products shall be treated as air-transport products and shall beincorporated in the principaldispl ay in accordance with the criteriaset out in Annex I.
5. (a) When applying the rules laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 of
Annex I to railservices the system vendor shal ladjust the rankingprinciples for the principal display in order to take due account of
the needs of consumers to be adequately informed of rail services
that represent a competitive alternative to the air services. Inparticular, system vendors may rank rail services with a limitednumber of short stops with non-stop direct air services.
(b) System vendors shall define clear criteria for the application of
this Article to rail services. Such criteria shall cover elapsed
journey time and reflect the need to avoid excessive screenpadding. At least two months before their application thosecriteria shall be submitted to the Commission for information.
6. For the purposes of this Article, all references to ‘flights’ in this
Regulation shall be deemed to include references to ‘rail services’ and
references to ‘air-transport products’ shall be deemed to include
references to ‘railproducts’.
7. Particular attention shall be given to an assessment of the
application of this Article in the Commission's report under Article23(1).
Article 22
1. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to national legislation
on security, public-order and data-protection measures taken inimplementation of Directive 95/46/EC (
1).
2. The beneficiaries of rights arising under Article 3 (4), Articles 4a,
6►C1and 21a cannot renounce ◄these rights by contractualor any
other means.
Article 23
Within two years of the entry into force of this Regulation, the
Commission shall draw up a report on the application of this Regulationwhich shall, inter alia , take account of economic developments in the
relevant market. That report may be accompanied by proposals for therevision of this Regulation.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 14
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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 15
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ANNEX I
Principal display ranking criteria for flights (1)offering unbundled air
transport products
1. Ranking of flight options in a principal display, for the day or days requested,
must be in the following order unless requested in a different way by a
consumer for an individualtransaction:
(i) all non-stop direct flights between the city-pairs concerned;
(ii) all other direct flights, not involving a change of aircraft or train,
between the city pairs concerned;
(iii) connecting flights.
2. A consumer must at least be afforded the possibility of having, on request, a
principal display ranked by departure or arrival time and/or elapsed journey
time. Unless otherwise requested by a consumer, a principal display must be
ranked by departure time for group (i) and elapsed journey time for groups
(ii) and (iii).
3. Where a system vendor chooses to display information for any city-pair in
relation to the schedules or fares of non-participating carriers, but not
necessarily all such carriers, such information must be displayed in an
accurate, non-misleading and non-discriminatory manner between carriers
displayed.
4. If, to the system vendor's knowledge, information on the number of direct
scheduled air services and the identity of the air carriers concerned is not
comprehensive, that must be clearly stated on the relevant display.
5. Flights other than scheduled air services must be clearly identified.
6. Flights involving stops en route must be clearly identified.7. Where flights are operated by an air carrier which is not the air carrier
identified by the carrier designator code, the actualoperator of the fl ight must
be clearly identified. That requirement will apply in all cases, except for
short-term ad hoc arrangements.
8. A system vendor must not use the screen space in a principaldispl ay in a
manner which gives excessive exposure to one particular travel option or
which displays unrealistic travel options.
9. Except as provided in paragraph 10, the following will apply:
(a) for direct services, no flight may be featured more than once in any
principaldispl ay;
(b) for multi-sector services involving a change of aircraft, no combination
of flights may be featured more than once in any principal display;
(c) flights involving a change of aircraft must be treated and displayed as
connecting flights, with one line per aircraft segment.
Nevertheless, where the flights are operated by the same carrier with the
same flight number and where a carrier requires only one flight coupon and
one reservation, a CRS should issue only one coupon and should charge for
only one reservation.
10. 1. Where participating carriers have joint-venture or other contractual
arrangements requiring two or more of them to assume separate
responsibility for the offer and sale of air-transport products on a flight
or combination of flights, the terms ‘flight’ (for direct services) and
‘combination of flights’ (for multi-sector services) used in paragraph 9
must be interpreted as allowing each of the carriers concerned — not more
than two — to have a separate display using its individual carrier-
designator code.
2. Where more than two carriers are involved, designation of the two carriers
entitled to avail themselves of the exception provided for in subparagraph
1 must be a matter for the carrier actually operating the flight. In the
absence of information from the operating carrier sufficient to identify the
two carriers to be designated, a system vendor must designate the carriers
on a non-discriminatory basis.
11. A principal display must, wherever practicable, include connecting flights on
scheduled services which are operated by participating carriers and are
constructed by using a minimum number of nine connecting points. A system1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 16
(1) All references to flights in this Annex are in accordance with Article 21b(6).
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vendor must accept a request by a participating carrier to include an indirect
service, unless the routing is in excess of 130 % of the great circle distance
between the two airports or unless that would lead to the exclusion of
services with a shorter elapsed journey time. Connecting points with routings
in excess of 130 % of that great circle distance need not be used.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 17
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ANNEX II
Use of distribution facilities by subscribers
1. A subscriber must keep accurate records covering all CRS reservation
transactions. Those records must include flight numbers, reservations booking
designators, date of travel, departure and arrival times, status of segments,
names and initials of passengers with their contact addresses and/or telephone
numbers and ticketing status. When booking or cancelling space, the
subscriber must ensure that the reservation designator being used correspondsto the fare paid by the passenger.
2. A subscriber should not deliberately make duplicate reservations for the same
passenger. Where confirmed space is not available on the customer's choice,
the passenger may be wait-listed on that flight (if wait-list is available) and
confirmed on an alternative flight.
3. When a passenger cancels a reservation, the subscriber must immediately
release that space.
4. When a passenger changes an itinerary, the subscriber must ensure that all
space and supplementary services are cancelled when the new reservations are
made.
5. A subscriber must, where practicable, request or process all reservations for a
specific itinerary and all subsequent changes through the same CRS.
6. No subscriber may request or sell airline space unless requested to do so by a
consumer.
7. A subscriber must ensure that a ticket is issued in accordance with the
reservation status of each segment and in accordance with the applicable time
limit. A subscriber must not issue a ticket indicating a definite reservation and
a particular flight unless confirmation of that reservation has been received.1989R2299 — EN — 13.08.1999 — 003.001 — 18