Airline tickets: Antitrust opens investigation into the algorithms that determine the price for routes to the islands
L’Authority will investigate the possible negative effects on the functioning of the market and on the conditions of offer to consumers linked to the use of price algorithms and will examine in greater detail the methods of communicating the airline ticket costs and their different components. This is made known byCompetition and Market Guarantor Authority which launched a fact-finding investigation into the use of pricing algorithms in passenger air transport on the routes connecting the peninsula to Sicily and Sardinia, characterized by particular mobility needs.
The basis for this decision is the fact that, in conjunction with the recovery in demand for passenger air transport, starting from 2022, high price levels have been detected by institutional and non-institutional entities corresponding to periods of peak demand.
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Airlines have been adopting pricing systems for years which, thanks to the use of algorithms and data processing software, differentiate and adapt flight costs over time. In recent years the degree of automation and sophistication of these systems has significantly increased, both due to the exponential growth of the information that can be processed and due to technological evolution. In perspective, the use of techniques artificial intelligence e machine learning it could enable the use of self-learning algorithms, capable of developing new pricing criteria.
The investigation activity will concern the possible negative effects on the functioning of the market and on the conditions of offer to consumers linked to the use of price algorithms, in the reference context. The investigation will also delve into the methods of communicating airline ticket prices and their various components to the public.
In consideration of the new regulatory provisions, the Authority may, following the fact-finding investigation, impose behavioral or structural measures on companies to eliminate distortions of competition or to recommend appropriate legislative/regulatory changes so as to improve the functioning of the markets. Furthermore, if – during the procedure – companies present commitments, the Authority will be able to evaluate their suitability to resolve the critical issues identified and make them mandatory, concludes the note.
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“It is confirmation that our battles in defense of travelers against the distortions of the price determination system are founded and justified by the abnormal and intolerable repetition of the high ticket prices, even during the upcoming end-of-year holidays”. The president of the Sicilian Region said it, Renato Schifanicommenting on the news of the launch of an Antitrust investigation into the use of algorithms for Sicily and the Sardinia.
“Thanks to the new law, strongly supported by Minister Urso, which gives greater investigative powers to the Antitrust – added the governor -, it will finally be possible to clarify a mechanism that I believe penalizes Sicilians and those who want to reach our island and, above all, it will be possible to impose more correct behavior on the companies. This is what, as the government of the Region, we have always hoped for. Market logic cannot aim only at profit, generating situations of de facto cartels to the detriment of territories already penalized by their geographical location”, concluded Schifani.
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“The Antitrust investigation is proof that our decree law, the rules contained in the strategic asset decree, are working. We have provided the Antitrust with the tools to act. This is what the Government must do. And therefore the Antitrust can now act to protect users, in that case those who in Sicily or Sardinia have no market alternatives, and also to protect operators who need transparency in order to act in the best possible way”. The Minister of Business and Made in Italy said it, Adolfo Ursoon the sidelines of the presentation of Nemesis project to the factory Leonardo of Pomigliano d’Arcoregarding the Antitrust fact-finding investigation into algorithms in relation to the high cost of airline tickets.
“We have paved the way for Europe, as demonstrated by what the European Commissioner said a few days ago on the anomalies that have occurred on fares for flights in Europe, and not only in Italy, over the last few months. Anomalies highlighted by the fact that, while companies were making profits never seen before, and the price of fuel was falling, the price of airline tickets was growing. Italy has set a precedent”, concluded the minister.
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