EU drops TAP-Brussels Airlines codeshare anti-trust investigation

The EC has dropped an anti-trust case against TAP Air Portugal and Brussels Airlines. The investigation, which began in Oct 2016, focused on a codeshare agreement between the two carriers on their Brussels to Lisbon route. Two years ago, the EC told the two airlines that its “preliminary view” was that the carriers’ codeshare cooperation on the sector restricted competition between them, in breach of EU antitrust rules. A statement of objections from the EC related to the first 3 years of the codeshare agreement, which originated in 2009. Two years later, the EC said Oct 30 it had decided to close the investigation “based on a thorough analysis of all relevant evidence, including information received from the two airlines in their replies to the statement of objections and during an oral hearing, which took place in May 2017. <br/>