Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Oct 1984

Vol. 353 No. 3

Written Answers. - Discount Air Fares.

448.

Mr. O'Malley

asked the Minister for Communications the number of occasions on which he has intervened in the last two years to prevent discounting of airline tickets below prices authorised by him; and the routes and the amounts of discount involved in each case.

Minister for Communications (Mr. J. Mitchell)

On nine occasions during the past two years I intervened to prevent the sale of airline fares other than those approved by me under the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1965. Particulars of these interventions are as follows:

Date of Intervention	Routes involved	Basis for Intervention
April, 1983	Shannon-New York	Sale by a travel agent of Transamerica Apex fare at £299 vis-à-vis the approved level of £339.
July, 1983	Dublin/London and Dublin/Continent routes	Sale by two travel agents of Aer Lingus weekend fares at special unspecified discounts.
July, 1983	Shannon-New York	Sale by a travel agent of a Transamerica Group fare at £327 vis-à-vis the approved level of £359.
July, 1983	Dublin-New York	Sale by a travel agent of an Aer Lingus Pex ticket at £339 vis-à-vis the approved level of £419.
August, 1983	Dublin-New York	Sale by agents of Aer Lingus Group tickets at £360 vis-à-vis the approved level of £379.
August, 1983	Shannon-New York	Advertising by travel agents of off-peak Transamerica Group fare at £299, vis-à-vis the approved level of £339.
September, 1983	Dublin-Boston	Sale of a Group ticket by Aer Lingus in breach of advance purchase requirements.
February, 1984	Dublin-London	Advertising by an agent of a promotional package involving sale of British Airways fares at £96 but with the requirement for that fare type of a Saturday night stopover ignored.
February, 1984	Shannon-New York	Advertising and sale by an agent of Transamerica tickets at £295 vis-à-vis the approved level of £339.

In each of the above cases my Department investigated the alleged infringement. With the exception of the last case mentioned, satisfactory assurances were obtained from the airlines involved that steps were being taken to ensure that further infringements of the terms of the Minister's approval would not take place.