This Regulation shall apply to any computerised reservation system (CRS), in so far as it contains air-transport products, when offered for use or used in the Community.

This Regulation shall also apply to rail-transport products, which are incorporated alongside air-transport products into the principal display of a CRS when offered for use or used in the Community.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

1. 1.

   ‘transport product’ means the carriage of a passenger between two airports or rail stations;

2. 2.

   ‘scheduled air service’ means a series of flights possessing all the following characteristics:

   1. (a)

      on each flight seats and/or capacity to transport cargo and/or mail are available for individual purchase by the public (either directly from the air carrier or from its authorised agents);

   2. (b)

      it is operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more airports, either:

      • according to a published timetable, or,

      • with flights so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisably systematic series;

3. 3.

   ‘fares’ means the prices to be paid by passengers to air carriers, rail-transport operators, their agents or other ticket sellers for the carriage of those passengers on transport services and any conditions under which those prices apply, including remuneration and conditions offered to agency and other auxiliary services;

4. 4.

   ‘computerised reservation system’ or ‘CRS’ means a computerised system containing information about, inter alia, schedules, availability and fares, of more than one air carrier, with or without facilities to make reservations or issue tickets, to the extent that some or all of these services are made available to subscribers;

5. 5.

   ‘system vendor’ means any entity and its affiliates which is or are responsible for the operation or marketing of a CRS;

6. 6.

   ‘distribution facilities’ means facilities provided by a system vendor for the provision of information about air carriers’ and rail-transport operators’ schedules, availability, fares and related services and for making reservations and/or issuing tickets, and for any other related services;

7. 7.

   ‘parent carrier’ means any air carrier or rail-transport operator which directly or indirectly, alone or jointly with others, controls, or participates in the capital with rights or representation on the board of directors, supervisory board or any other governing body of, a system vendor, as well as any air carrier or rail-transport operator which it controls;

8. 8.

   ‘participation in the capital with rights or representation on the board of directors, supervisory board or any other governing body of a system vendor’ means an investment to which are attached rights or representation on the board of directors, supervisory board or any other governing body of a system vendor, and conferring the possibility of exercising, alone or jointly with others, decisive influence on the running of the business of the system vendor;

9. 9.

   ‘control’ means a relationship constituted by rights, contracts or any other means which, either separately or in combination and having regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, confer the possibility of exercising decisive influence on an undertaking, in particular by:

   1. (a)

      ownership or the right to use all or part of the assets of an undertaking;

   2. (b)

      rights or contracts which confer a decisive influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the organs of an undertaking;

10. 10.

    ‘participating carrier’ means an air carrier or rail-transport operator which has an agreement with a system vendor for the distribution of transport products through a CRS;

11. 11.

    ‘subscriber’ means a person or an undertaking, other than a participating carrier, using a CRS under contract with a system vendor with the purpose of making reservations of air-transport and related products on behalf of a client;

12. 12.

    ‘principal display’ means a comprehensive neutral display of data concerning transport services between city-pairs, within a specified time period;

13. 13.

    ‘ticket’ means a valid document giving entitlement to transport, or an equivalent in paperless form, issued or authorised by the air carrier, rail-transport operator or an authorised agent;

14. 14.

    ‘bundled product’ means a prearranged combination of transport with other services not ancillary to transport and offered at an inclusive price;

15. 15.

    ‘booking fee’ means the price to be paid by air carriers to system vendors for the services provided by the CRS.