Fact Sheet: Flex Fares

A large proportion of journeys require the services of two or more airlines in order for the passenger to complete a single journey
The interline system is the global network of international air transport services linking most cities with scheduled air services
Provides a travel option that enables:
- fully flexible fares
- allows last minute changes/routings on other airlines
- provides a single ticket (fare) for a journey using 2 or more carriers
- provides for baggage transfer at connecting points
Common fares and rules for multilateral interlining are required for such a common system and have been in place for over 50 years
Governments have understood the benefits the interline system and provided immunity from competition laws
However, immunities have been scaled back
The block exemption for tariff agreements:
- within EU ended at the end of 2006
- between EU-USA and between EU-Australia ended at the end of June 2007
- between EU and the rest of the world ended at the end of October 2007
- Australian competition authority ACCC ended immunity in June 2008 for markets to/from Australia
IATA has developed a mechanism to address competition concerns while maintaining the benefits of interlining for consumers

Face-to-face airline meetings are being replaced by e-Tariffs online voting platform
The last face-to-face meeting to take place no later than June 2010
Flex Fares are produced by a mechanism that automatically calculates interlineable fares based on average carrier fares in affected markets
An interlining premium is added to account for the added flexibility of these interline fares
Flex fares have been adopted in the majority of IATA routes worldwide and are awaiting implementation, and only a few areas involving Asia are yet to adopt
Flex Fares are now used for markets within/to/from Europe, and within/to/from South West Pacific, except where government approvals are pending
In 2009 and 2010, flex fares will be implemented in the rest of the world

Updated September 2009