Proceedings have been launched against Amadeus Polska by UOKiK,
the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
Amadeus Polska operates Poland's largest Global Distribution
System, which provides online travel information to various travel
agencies that enables them to book flights, hotels and car rentals
for their customers.
To access a GDS, travel agencies need to use mid-office
software. As well as operating the market-leading GDS, Amadeus
Polska is also a mid-office software producer.
According to UOKiK, Amadeus Polska has been charging lower fees
to travel agencies using its own mid-office software than to those
using other software.
If this has the effect of discouraging travel agencies from
using competitor software, it could seriously distort the
mid-office software market and constitute an abuse of market power.
This could result in Amadeus Polska being fined up to 10% of its
annual turnover.
