A Spanish court has served an injunction on global distribution system Amadeus in a dispute that echoes the struggle between rival GDS Travelport and American Airlines.
Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana won the injunction forcing Amadeus to reinstate its fares on the GDS at the end of last week. The carrier said it has not ruled out further legal action.
Air Astana went to court against Madrid-based Amadeus at the end of January after the GDS terminated a distribution agreement with the carrier on January 21. A full-content agreement between the companies expired on December 31.
The pair were in talks on a replacement when Amadeus gave 15-days notice of its intention to end the distribution deal, alleging breach of contract by Air Astana. Amadeus is the one major GDS in the US and Europe not yet party to a dispute over distribution with American Airlines.
Travelport, owner of Worldspan and Galileo, is involved in a US legal battle with the US carrier which resumes in mid-March, while a court case between Sabre and American is on hold. The dispute has also sucked in online retailers Expedia and Orbitz.
Air Astana described Amadeus’ behaviour as “coercive” and said that since January 1: “The Amadeus price for bookings in Kazakhstan has gone up very substantially.” In a statement, the carrier said: “By cancelling the agreement with 15 days notice Amadeus sought to take advantage of the lack of [an] immediate alternative for distribution in many markets to pressure Air Astana to accept a new agreement on Amadeus’ terms.”
More than 90% of Air Astana bookings in its home market, Kazakhstan, came through Amadeus last year, and the GDS reported handling 68% of the carrier’s bookings in western Europe in 2009.
No one from Amadeus was available for comment. However, the company appears to have responded to Air Astana’s introduction of differential terms for GDSs at the start of the year.
The carrier has been renegotiating its contracts with GDSs since last July – including with Travelport, Sirena of Russia and Abacus of east Asia. As part of the negotiations it has offered full commission on domestic fares for agents using GDSs that offer better terms. The airline signed deals with Travelport and Abacus that came into force on January 1.
Air Astana flies daily from Heathrow to its hub at Almaty, from where it operates a growing international network and serves the oil-producing centres around the Caspian Sea. It is the only Kazakh carrier licensed to fly into the European Union.