Press centre Expert comments

The Federal Antimonopoly Service can set the ceiling price of economy class airfare. This initiative led to the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemyev asked deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party and deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Transport, Alexander Starovoytov (letter is a "News").
According to the letter Starovoitova, FAS should regulate only the prices in economy, the cost of the ticket in business class and other classes of enhanced comfort will not be adjusted. Such a decision, to the letter, will bring to life the old head of department initiatives Igor Artemyev, who for the past few years trying to deal with a number of tariff principles in aviation. Now it will be easier to adjust Artemyev airfare - this week, the Federal Tariff Service was abolished and all its powers transferred to the FAS. Details about how to dispose Antimonopolschiki such happiness, not yet reported.

- I propose to revert to the misconduct of air carriers and jointly consider measures to restrict the formation of injustice to the passenger tariffs. As one of the possible measures propose to consider the option of establishing the upper limit of the cost of the ticket in economy class - writes Starovoytov. - On the one hand, this measure does not violate market competition between air carriers - each of them will be able to offer competitive ticket price, and on the other - will prevent passengers from forced buying too expensive tickets. Also, this regulation will not prevent airlines to set an arbitrary value in the other classes of service.

According Starovoytov, Igor Artemyev before he and his department have repeatedly expressed discontent with the tariff policy of the airlines. Claims FAS did at various times had plenty from monopolistically high prices for flights on certain routes, which operates several carriers, to rise in price of the ticket as you get closer to the date of departure.

- On the basis of the already formed the FAS position on this issue, and especially given that the functions of the Federal Tariff Service have moved to the FAS, I think it appropriate to strengthen the control to identify misconduct air carriers and to develop measures to restrict the formation of excessive tariffs, - says Starovoytov.

The press service of FAS "News" said that the letter has not yet reached, but when it comes - will consider.

As for the high monopoly prices, since 2011 FAS brought against carriers more than 30 cases of unjustified overstatement of tariffs. But to defend their case, FAS was only a few times. For example, in autumn 2014, FAS won a lawsuit against the "Siberia". Then, the agency decided that monopolistically high prices are set on a route Khabarovsk Khabarovsk-Tokyo and Beijing. Play Antimonopoly Service had much more often. In 2013 FAS accused of "UTair", "Siberia", "Ural Airlines" and other companies of price collusion in the sale of airline tickets for flights from Moscow to Irkutsk. As the air carriers claim to the agency, FAS filed a case at the request of passengers who felt that carriers unreasonably inflate the price of airline tickets for this route. The proceedings reached the Supreme Court, but to defend its position at the department still has not turned out. It did not work at the department in March 2014, and to prove that "Siberia" overstated the cost of tickets for the route Novosibirsk-Anapa and Sochi Novosibirsk year earlier.

In Artemyev, who heads the FAS since inception service in 2004, there have been other claims to the tariffs of air carriers. For example, in an interview with RBC last year Artemyev said that he is not satisfied that the ticket price can vary considerably for the same length of the flights performed by the same aircraft on the same model. Then he decided that this is "only thanks to the monopoly." However, if no decisive action from the Federal Antimonopoly Service has not followed.

Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in 2014 showed dissatisfaction with the fact that even with unfilled airline flights retain a high ticket price. Artemyev proposed to arrange the sale of airline tickets neraskuplennyh a day or two before the flight, reducing their costs by about a quarter. The problem, as explained in the FAS, rests in changing reservation systems - they automatically increase the cost of the ticket as the date of departure. Airlines argued that if prices hold for a couple of days before departure, the passengers will not buy tickets in advance, waiting for the fall of their value. Artemyev also said that the agency wants to withdraw from circulation the reservation system and instead develop its.

Experts have different opinions on the proposal Starovoitova. Definitely support their peers MP from the "Just Russia" Oleg Nilov, which he said "Izvestia". Chairman of the Union of passengers Kirill Yankov partially supports the idea, he said, he sees sense to introduce state regulation only on certain routes, which employ 2-3 carrier.

- In some cases, this tool should be - he said. - But it is worth noting that it is clearly not necessary to apply for subsidized areas: Simferopol, Kaliningrad and others.

Against the idea of ​​acts CEO of consulting company "Infomost" Boris Rybak.

- In the XX century, there is a price regulation in Europe and the US, but in developed countries this is not already at least 30 years. The USSR had a monopoly on the routes: if the organization which carried out the carriage on a particular route, have applied to the Center of regulation of tariffs and they set the maximum and minimum value of the ticket, - the expert said. - But if it were not for the system of tariffs, which was created over the last two decades of the world's civil aviation if they were flat rates, now hour flight would cost about 10 thousand. Rubles on all flights. That system, which is, lets do some of the cheapest tickets, some - more expensive, and the third - very expensive. The system is constructed so that in a given market to maximize revenue and margins, otherwise would have had to close part of unprofitable routes.

As the managing partner of the law firm VEGAS LEX Alexander Sitnikov, the FAS could well make an attempt to introduce state regulation of airline tickets.

- Given that it is now transferred to the function of FAS FTS, in theory department does have the ability to enter a full or partial state regulation airfare. To do this, the FAS is necessary to initiate the regulation of prices in the federal legislation, such as change of Art. 64 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation - "Tariffs for services in the field of civil aviation and the fees for these services, the rules of the sale of transportation documents." At the same time we must understand that state regulation is never guaranteed low prices and could lead to a reduction in the number of participants in the relevant market.

- If the adjustment is set to the form in which it proposes to make Starovoytov, then, in my view, a violation of the law "On Competition" will not - says lawyer Interregional Bar Association Inna Kudriakov.

The "Aeroflot" and "UTair" declined to comment. The press service of "Transaero" stated that "for the implementation of these proposals deputies need to make significant changes in the Russian legislation, including the Air Code of the Russian Federation, as it is known, is the exclusive prerogative of the legislature." In "Siberia" and "Ural Airlines" have not responded to the request of "Izvestia".