OREANDA-NEWS. July 29, 2014. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) organized a first meeting of the Expert Council on the issues of developing competition in air transport.

The Expert Council discussed application of dynamic pricing in air transportation and outlined further themes for the work of the Expert Council.

Representatives of airlines, airports and civil aviation non-government organizations took part in the event.

In the introductory speech the Chairman of the Expert Council, Deputy Head of FAS Anatoly Golomolzin emphasized significance of the measures approved by the Government of the Russian Federation that are aimed at supporting sustainable growth and developing competition in civil aviation, and a stimulating role of antimonopoly regulation. “A system-wide approach to ensuring growth of air transportation and changed in the traffic structure is necessary to support increase of long-distance traffic, outrunning growth of regional traffic, development of general purpose aviation, business aviation, creating conditions for low-cost transportation and establishing a segment of domestic charter transportation”.

Anatoly Golomolzin stressed the importance of discussing the issues of pricing and a system of selling air transportation, pointing out at a positive experience of dynamic pricing in rail transport. Special attention was paid to the necessity of improving the system of air carriage sales, conducting a flexible pricing policy by the carriers aimed not only at increasing or maintaining prices set in the course of sales, but also a possibility to decrease it when demand is low.

The Head of FAS Department for Control over Transport and Communications, Dmitry Routenberg stated that controversial issues for consumers remain the issues related to multiple tariff offers by air carriers, nontransparent pricing for air carriage and consumer lacking possibility to choose the necessary options. The FAS representative informed members of the Expert Council on the efforts of the antimonopoly body to form a database on air transportation tariffs for comparable routes. The work is being undertaken in order to analyze the tariff policy of the airlines and establishing price indicators of the market.

Participants showed a considerable interest to a report made by representatives of the Federal Passenger Company on the experience of applying dynamic pricing in rail transportation.

The Chairman of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies, D. Yanin, stated the need to provide open transparent information to consumers and prevent actions aimed at increasing or maintaining prices with aircrafts are underloading, as infringing consumer interests.

Representatives of airlines raised the issues of applying non-refundable tickets, emphasizing that the tariffs for non-refundable tickets decrease.

Based on the discussion, Anatoly Golomolzin pointed out approximation of position of the antimonopoly authority and airlines on the issue of applying a system of dynamic pricing in air transport in the part of not only increasing and (or) maintaining tariffs fixed during sales but also decreasing the tariffs in the absence of demand. So far those airlines have not submitted information corroborating such facts.

The Expert Council recommended airlines to submit information to FAS conforming that air carriers apply flexible pricing policy on particular routes that accounts for demand changes.

FAS will also use the Expert Council to discuss intermediary results of the work of creating a database on comparability of air tariffs and establishing price indicators on air transportation market.

Regarding the agenda of the forthcoming meetings, members of the Expert Council should forward their proposals to FAS. In its turn, FAS proposes to discuss the following themes:

- Evaluating the results of implementing the Road Map on “Developing Competition and Improving the Antimonopoly Policy” and drafting proposals on improving the Road Map and defining an action-planning horizon

- Developing competition between airports, possibilities of deregulation and conditions for implementing investment projects

- Further measures towards developing competition in air transportation within the CIS space and the issues of “open sky” in the Eurasian Economic Space

- Problems of developing freight market.