I have been thinking. There have been numerous threads regarding the loss of access to Galileo data, which until recently was available free, although "unofficially" so, on a number of websites. The data was extremely valuable to readers of this and other fora.

If I am right in thinking that Galileo/Sabre etc. is CRS data, then does this legislation from the EU help?


Council Regulation (EC)323/1999

Article 1. a 9(e)

(e) A consumer shall be entitled at any time to have a print-out of the CRS display or to be given access to a parallel CRS display reflecting the image that is being displayed to the subscriber

Article 1. 2(a)

2. Article 2 shall be amended as follows:
(a) paragraph (l) shall be replaced by the following:
'(l) "subscriber" shall mean a person, other than a consumer, or an undertaking, other than a participating carrier, using a CRS under contract or other financial arrangement with a system vendor. A financial arrangement shall be deemed to exist where a specific payment is made for the services of the system vendor or where an air-transport product is purchased`; (b) paragraph (m) shall be replaced by the following:
'(m) "consumer" shall mean any person seeking information about or intending to purchase an air-transport product for private use`;

I am not sure that my paragraph numbers are correct, but looking at the definition of consumer " "consumer" shall mean any person seeking information about ... an air-transport product for private use`;" does this not cover the typical FT user who consulted Galileo when it was available in the past? If so, the definition of subscriber would cover a web-based travel agency - Expedia.co.uk for example - and therefore the consumer is entitled to the benefit of paragraph 1. a 9 (e).

This legislation is sometimes referred to as an air passengers' charter I think.

Is my construction or application of this legislation wrong, or should high street travel agents and web-based travel agents be providing this information on request (and free)?

If anyone can assist, I should be grateful, and I might contact Expedia to see what they think. Or I may have got this completely wrong...