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Publishers Abstract:
The judgment annotated here brings to an end a dispute that began on Jul 9, 1993 with Virgin Atlantic claiming that various incentives given by British Airways to travel agents to promote the sale of BA airline tickets amounted to an abuse of a dominant position in breach of Article 82 EC. On Dec 17, 2003, Feb 23, 2006, and Mar 15, 2007 respectively, the first chamber of the Court of First Instance, Advocate General Kokott, and the third chamber of the Court of Justice confirmed that the manner in which BA paid travel agents for selling airline tickets constituted an abuse of a dominant position infringing Article 82 EC. In British Airways, the Court of Justice ruled that the exclusionary effect, which is disadvantageous for competition, may be counterbalanced, or outweighed, by advantages in terms of efficiency which also benefit the consumer. BA's claim was rejected because it was not possible to say that additional ticket sales necessarily generate profits.
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