CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 1
CHAPTER 434
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR COMPUTERISED 
RESERVATION SYSTEMS ACT
To  provide for a code of conduct for computerised reservation systems .
1st October, 2002
Act XIX of 2001.
Short title.
Computerised Reservation Systems Act.
Interpretation.
"air transport product" includes both unbundled and bundled air
transport products;
"Board" means the Computerised Reservation Systems Board
established under article 19; 
"bundled air transport product" means a pre-arranged
combination of an unbundled air transport product with other
services not ancillary to air transport, offered for sale and, or, sold
at an inclusive price;
"bundled rail transport product" means a pre-arranged
combination of an unbundled rail transport product with other
services not ancillary to rail transport, offered for sale or sold at an
inclusive price; 
"computerized reservation system" means a computerized system
containing information with regard to,  inter alia , air carriers’ -
( a ) schedules;
( b ) availability;
( c ) fares; and
( d ) related services; 
with or without facilities through which - 
( a ) reservations may be made; or
( b ) tickets may be issued,
to the extent that some or all of these services are made available to
subscribers;
"consumer" means any person seeking information about or
intending to purchase an air transport product for private use;
"Director" means the Director of Civil Aviation and includes, to
the extent of the authority given, any person authorised in that
behalf by the Director;
"distribution facilities" means facilities provided by a system
vendor for the provision of information about air carriers’
schedules, availability, fares and related services and for making
reservations and, or issuing tickets, and for any other related
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services;
"duplicate reservation" means a situation which arises when two
or more reservations are made for the same passenger when it is
evident that the passenger may not be able to use more than one;
"effective control" means a relationship constituted by rights,
contracts or any other means which, either separately or jointly and
having regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, confer
the possibility of directly or indirectly exercising a decisive
influence on an undertaking, in particular by the -
( a ) right to use all or part of the assets of an undertaking;
and 
( b ) rights or contracts which confer a decisive influence
on the composition, voting or decisions of the bodies
of an undertaking or otherwise confer a decisive
influence on the running of the business of the
undertaking;
"elapsed journey time" means the time difference between
scheduled departure and arrival time;
"fare" means the price to be paid for unbundled air transport
products and the conditions under which this price applies;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for Civil Aviation,
and includes, to the extent of the authority given, any officer
authorised by him, in writing, to act in that behalf for any of the
purposes of this Act;
"parent carrier" means any air carrier which directly or
indirectly, alone or jointly with others, owns or effectively controls
a system vendor, and includes any air carrier which it owns or
effectively controls;
"participating carrier" means an air carrier which has an
agreement with a system vendor for the distribution of air transport
products through a computerized reservation system. To the extent
that a parent carrier uses the facilities of its own computerized
reservation system covered by this Act, it shall be considered a
participating carrier;
"principal display" means a comprehensive neutral display of
data concerning air services between city-pairs, within a specified
time period;
"rail transport product" includes both unbundled and bundled rail
transport products; 
"service enhancement" means any product or service offered by a
system vendor on its own behalf to subscribers, in conjunction with
a computerized reservation system, other than distribution
facilities;
"scheduled air service" means a series of flights all possessing
the following characteristics:
( a ) performed by aircraft for the transport of passengers or
passengers and cargo and, or, mail for remuneration, in
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 3
such a manner that seats are available on each flight
for individual purchase by consumers, either directly
from the air carrier or from its authorized agents;
( b ) operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or
more points, either - 
(i) according to a published timetable; or
(ii) with flights so regular or frequent that they
constitute a recognizably systematic series;
"subscriber" means a person, other than a consumer, or an
undertaking, other than a participating carrier, using a
computerized reservation system 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;
"system vendor" means any entity and its affiliates which is
responsible for the operation or marketing of a computerized
reservation system;
"ticket" means a valid document giving entitlement to transport,
or an equivalent in paperless, including electronic, form issued or
authorised by the carrier or its authorised agent;
"unbundled air transport product" means the carriage by air of a
passenger between two airports, including any related ancillary
services and additional benefits offered for sale and, or, sold as an
integral part of that product;
"unbundled rail transport product" means the carriage of a
passenger between two stations by rail, including any related
ancillary services and additional benefits offered for sale or sold as
an integral part of that product.
Conduct of system 
vendors.
3. (1) A system vendor shall have the capacity, in its own
name as a separate entity from the parent carrier, to have rights and
obligations of all kinds, to enter into contracts,  inter alia , with
parent carriers, participating carriers and subscribers, or to
accomplish other legal acts and to sue and be sued.
(2) A system vendor shall, subject to any technical constraints
outside the control of the system vendor, allow any air carrier to
participate, on an equal and non-discriminatory basis, in its
distribution facilities within the available capacity of the system
concerned.
(3) ( a ) A system vendor shall not -
(i) attach unreasonable conditions to any contract
with a participating carrier;
(ii) require the acceptance of supplementary
conditions which, by their nature or according to
commercial usage, have no connection with
participation in its computerized reservation
system and shall apply the same conditions for
the same level of service.
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( b ) A system vendor shall not make it a condition of
participation in its computerized reservation system that a
participating carrier may not at the same time be a participant in
another system.
( c ) A participating carrier may terminate its contract with
a system vendor by giving such notice, as may be stipulated, for the
contract to expire. In such a case, a system vendor shall not be
entitled to recover more than the costs directly related to the
termination of the contract:
Provided that no notice of more than six months may be
stipulated, and that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply
if the contract is terminated before the first year of the contract:
Provided further that a participating carrier may give a
longer notice than that stipulated.
(4) If a system vendor decides to add any improvement to the
distribution facilities provided or the equipment used in the
provision of the facilities, it shall give information on, and offer
these improvements to, all participating carriers, including parent
carriers, with equal timeliness and on the same terms and
conditions, subject to any technical constraints outside the control
of the system vendor, and in such a way that there may be no
difference in leadtime for the implementation of the new
improvements between parent and participating carriers.
Conduct of parent 
carriers.
4. (1) ( a ) A parent carrier may not discriminate against a
competing computerized reservation system by refusing to provide
the latter, on request and with equal timeliness, with the same
information on schedules, fares and availability relating to its own
air services as that which it provides to its own computerized
reservation system or by refusing to distribute its air transport
products through another computerized reservation system, or by
refusing to accept or to confirm with equal timeliness a reservation
made through a competing computerized reservation system for any
of its air transport products which are distributed through its own
computerized reservation system. The parent carrier shall be
obliged to accept and to confirm only those bookings which are in
conformity with its fares and conditions.
( b )  The parent carrier shall not be obliged to pay any costs
in this connection except those in connection with the reproduction
of the information to be provided and for accepted bookings. The
booking fee payable to a computerized reservation system for an
accepted booking made in accordance with this article shall not
exceed the fee charged by the same computerized reservation
system to participating carriers for an equivalent transaction.
( c ) The parent carrier shall be entitled to carry out controls
to ensure that the provisions of article 7(1) are adhered to by the
competing computerized reservation system.
 (2)  The provisions of this article shall not apply in relation to a
competing computerized reservation system which has been found,
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 5
by the Board, to have obtained information by any unauthorised
means.
Conduct of 
participating 
carriers.
5. (1) ( a ) Participating carriers and other providers of air
transport products shall ensure that the data which they submit to a
computerized reservation system are accurate, non-misleading,
transparent and no less comprehensive than that submitted to any
other computerized reservation system. The data shall be such as to
enable a system vendor to meet the requirements of the ranking
criteria as set out in the First Schedule.
( b ) Intermediaries shall not manipulate data submitted to
them in a manner which leads to inaccurate, misleading or
discriminatory information.
( c ) The provisions of paragraphs ( a ) and ( b ) shall,  mutatis
mutandis , also apply to rail services in respect of data provided for
inclusion in the principal display.
 (2) ( a ) A system vendor shall not manipulate the material
referred to in subarticle (1) in a manner which would lead to the
provision of inaccurate, misleading or discriminatory information.
( b ) A system vendor shall load and process data provided
by all participating carriers with equal care and timeliness, subject
only to the constraints of the loading method selected by individual
participating carriers and to the standard formats used by the said
vendor.
Access and 
distribution.
6. (1) Loading and, or, processing facilities provided by a
system vendor shall be offered to all parent and participating
carriers without discrimination. Where relevant and generally
accepted air transport industry standards are available, system
vendors shall offer facilities compatible with the same.
(2) A system vendor shall not reserve any specific loading and,
or, processing procedure or any other distribution facility for one or
more of its parent carriers.
(3) A system vendor shall ensure that its distribution facilities
are separated, in a clear and verifiable manner, from any carrier’s
private inventory and management and marketing facilities.
Separation may be established either by means of software or
physically in such a way that any connection between the
distribution facilities and the private facilities may only be
achieved by means of an application-to-application interface.
Irrespective of the method of separation adopted, any such
interface shall be made available to all parent and participating
carriers on a non-discriminatory basis and shall provide equality of
treatment in respect of procedures, protocols, inputs and outputs.
Where relevant and generally accepted air transport industry
standards are available, system vendors shall offer interfaces
compatible with them.
 (4)  The system vendor shall ensure that any third parties
providing computerized reservation system services in whole or in
part on its behalf comply with the relevant provisions of this Act.
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Computerized 
reservation system 
displays.
7. (1) ( a ) Displays generated by a computerized reservation
system shall be clear and non-discriminatory.
( b ) A system vendor shall not intentionally or negligently
display inaccurate or misleading information in its computerized
reservation system.
 (2) ( a ) A system vendor shall provide a principal display or
displays for each individual transaction through its computerized
reservation system and shall include therein the data provided by
participating carriers on flight schedules, fare types and seat
availability in a clear and comprehensive manner and without
discrimination or bias, in particular as regards the order in which
information is presented.
( b ) A consumer shall be entitled to have, on request, a
principal display limited to either scheduled or non-scheduled
services only.
( c ) No discrimination on the basis of airports serving the
same city shall be exercised in constructing and selecting flights for
a given city-pair for inclusion in a principal display.
( d ) Ranking of flight options in a principal display shall be
as set out in the First Schedule.
( e ) Criteria to be used for ranking shall not be based on
any factor directly or indirectly relating to carrier identity and shall
be applied on a non-discriminatory basis to all participating
carriers.
(3) Where a system vendor provides information on fares, the
display shall be neutral and non-discriminatory and shall contain at
least the fares provided for all flights of participating carriers
shown in the principal display. The source of such information
must be acceptable to the participating carrier and system vendor
concerned.
 (4) Information on bundled products regarding,  inter alia , the
tour organizer, availability and prices, shall not be featured in the
principal display.
 (5) A computerized reservation system shall not be considered
to be in breach of the provisions of this Act to the extent that it
changes a display in order to meet the specific request or requests
of a consumer.
Availability of 
information.
8. (1) The following provisions shall govern the availability
of information, statistical or otherwise, by a system vendor from its
computerized reservation system:
( a ) information concerning identifiable individual
bookings shall be provided on an equal basis and only
to the air carrier or carriers participating in the service
covered and to the subscribers involved in the
booking. Information under the control of the system
vendor concerning identifiable individual bookings
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
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shall be archived off-line within seventy-two hours of
the completion of the last element in the individual
booking and destroyed within three years. Access to
such data shall, without prejudice to any power of the
police or other authority in connection with criminal
investigations or national security, be allowed only for
reasons relating to disputes concerning billing;
( b ) any marketing, booking and sales data shall only be
made available on the basis that -
(i) such data are offered with equal timeliness and
on a non-discriminatory basis to all participating
carriers, including parent carriers;
(ii)  such data may and, on request, shall cover all
participating carriers and, or subscribers, but
shall include no identification, either directly or
indirectly, of, or personal information on, a
passenger or a corporate user;
(iii) all requests for such data are treated with equal
care and timeliness subject to the transmission
method selected by the individual carrier;
(iv) information is made available on request to
participating carriers and subscribers both
globally and selectively with regard to the
market in which they operate;
(v)  a group of airlines and, or subscribers is entitled
to purchase data for common processing.
(2) A system vendor shall not make personal information
concerning a passenger available to others not involved in the
transaction without the consent of the passenger.
(3) A system vendor shall ensure that the provisions of
subarticles (1) and (2) are complied with, by technical means and,
or appropriate safeguards, in such a way that information provided
by or created for air carriers shall in no way be accessed by one or
more of the parent carriers except as permitted by this Act.
Parent carriers and 
countries other 
than Malta.
9. (1) The obligations of a system vendor under articles 3, 5,
6, 7 and 8 shall not apply in respect of a parent carrier of a country
other than Malta to the extent that its computerized reservation
system outside the territory of Malta does not offer Maltese air
carriers equivalent treatment to that provided under this Act.
(2) The obligations of parent   or participating carriers under
articles 4, 5 and 10 shall not apply in respect of a computerized
reservation system controlled by an air carrier of one or more
countries other than Malta to the extent that, outside the territory of
Malta, the parent or participating carrier is not accorded equivalent
treatment to that provided under this Act.
No commission, 
incentive or 
disincentive.
10. (1) A parent carrier shall not, directly or indirectly, link
the use of any specific computerized reservation system by a
subscriber with the receipt of any commission or other incentive or
disincentive for the sale of air transport products available on its
flights.
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(2) A parent carrier shall not, directly or indirectly, require the
use of any specific computerized reservation system by a
subscriber for the sale or issue of tickets for any air transport
products directly or indirectly provided by the said parent carrier.
(3) An air carrier shall not, when authorizing a travel agent to
sell and issue tickets for the air carrier’s air transport products,
impose any condition, on the travel agent, which runs counter to the
provisions of subarticles (1) or (2).
Distribution of 
facilities.
11. (1) A system vendor shall make any of the distribution
facilities of a computerized reservation system available to any
subscriber on a non-discriminatory basis.
(2) A system vendor shall not require a subscriber to sign an
exclusive contract, nor directly or indirectly prevent a subscriber
from subscribing to, or using, any other system or systems.
(3) A service enhancement offered to any one subscriber shall
be offered by the system vendor to all subscribers on a non-
discriminatory basis.
(4) ( a ) A system vendor shall not attach unreasonable
conditions to any subscriber contract allowing for the use of its
computerized reservation system and, in particular, a subscriber
may terminate its contract with a system vendor by giving such
notice, as may be stipulated, for the contract to expire. In such a
case, a system vendor shall not be entitled to recover more than the
costs directly related to the termination of the contract:
Provided that no notice of more than three months may be
stipulated, and that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply
if the contract is terminated before the first year of the contract:
Provided further that a subscriber may give a longer notice
than that stipulated.
( b ) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (2), the supply
of technical equipment by the system vendor shall not be subject to
any of the conditions set out in paragraph ( a ).
(5)  A system vendor shall, in each subscriber contract, make
provision for -
( a ) the principal display, in conformity with article 7, to
be accessed for each individual transaction, except
where a consumer requests information for only one
air carrier or where the consumer requests information
only for bundled air transport products; and
( b ) the subscriber not to manipulate material supplied by
computerized reservation systems in a manner which
would lead to inaccurate, misleading or discriminatory
presentation of information to consumers.
(6) A system vendor may not impose an obligation on a
subscriber to accept an offer of technical equipment or software,
but may require that equipment and software used be compatible
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 9
with its own system.
Subscribers’ 
obligations and 
consumers’ rights.
12.   (1) ( a ) In the case of information provided by a
computerized reservation system, a subscriber shall use a neutral
display in accordance with article 7(2)( a ) and ( b ) unless another
display is required to meet a preference indicated by a consumer. 
( b )  No subscriber shall manipulate information provided
by a computerized reservation system in a manner that leads to
inaccurate, misleading or discriminatory presentation of that
information to any consumer.
( c )  A subscriber shall make reservations and issue tickets
in accordance with the information contained in the computerized
reservation system used, or as authorised by the carrier concerned.
( d )  A subscriber shall inform every consumer of any  en
route  changes of equipment, the number of scheduled  en route
stops, the identity of the air carrier actually operating the flight,
and of any changes of airport required in any itinerary provided, to
the extent that that information is present in the computerized
reservation system. The subscriber shall inform the consumer of the
name and address of the system vendor, the purposes of the
processing, the duration of the retention of individual data and the
means available to the consumer to exercise his access rights.
( e )  A consumer shall be entitled at any time to have a
print-out of the computerized reservation system display or to be
given access to a parallel computerized reservation system display
reflecting the image that is being displayed to the subscriber.
( f )  A person shall be entitled to have effective access, free
of charge, to his own data regardless of whether the data is stored
by the computerized reservation system or by the subscriber.
(2) A subscriber shall use the distribution facilities of a
computerized reservation system in accordance with the Second
Schedule.
Fee charging 
criteria to 
participating 
carriers.
13. (1)  Any fee charged to a participating carrier by a system
vendor shall be non-discriminatory, reasonably structured and
reasonably related to the cost of the service provided and used, and
shall, in particular, be the same for the same level of service.
(2) The billing for the services of a computerized reservation
system shall be sufficiently detailed to allow the participating
carriers to see exactly which services have been used and the fees
therefor; as a minimum, booking fee bills shall include the
following information for each segment: 
(i) type of computerized reservation system
booking;
(ii) passenger name;
(iii) country;
(iv) IATA/ARC agency identification code;
(v) city-code;
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(vi) city pair of segment;
(vii) booking date (transaction date);
(viii) flight date;
(ix) flight number;
(x) status code (booking status);
(xi) service type (class of service);
(xii) passenger name record (PNR) locator; and
(xiii) booking/cancellation indicator.
(3) The billing information shall be offered on magnetic or
other media normally used in the services provided. The fee to be
charged for the billing information provided in the form chosen by
the carrier shall not exceed the cost of the medium itself together
with its transportation costs. A participating air carrier shall be
offered the facility of being informed when any booking or
transaction is made for which a booking fee may be charged. Where
a carrier elects to be so informed, it shall be offered the option of
disallowing any such booking or transaction, unless the latter has
already been accepted. In the event of such a disallowance, the air
carrier shall not be charged for that booking or transaction.
(4)  Any fee for equipment rental or other service charged to a
subscriber by a system vendor shall be non-discriminatory,
reasonably structured and reasonably related to the cost of the
service provided and used, and shall, in particular, be the same for
the same level of service. Productivity benefits awarded to
subscribers by system vendors in the form of discount on rental
charges or commission payments shall be deemed to be distribution
costs of the system vendors and shall be based on ticketed
segments. Without prejudice to paragraph 5 of the Second
Schedule, when the system vendor does not know whether a ticket
has been issued or not, then that system vendor shall be entitled to
rely upon notification of the ticket number from the subscriber. The
billing for the services of a computerized reservation system shall
be sufficiently detailed to allow subscribers to see exactly which
services have been used and what fees have been charged therefor.
 (5)  A system vendor shall, on request, provide interested
parties, including consumers, with details of current procedures,
fees and system facilities, including interfaces, editing and display
criteria used. The processing of individual data shall be free of
charge for consumers to whom that information refers. This
provision shall not, however, require a system vendor to disclose
proprietary information such as software.
(6) Any changes to fee levels, conditions or facilities offered
and the basis therefor shall be communicated to all participating
carriers and subscribers on a non-discriminatory basis.
Use of 
computerized 
reservation system 
by carriers in their 
own office, etc.
14. (1) The provisions of article 7, article 11(5) and the
Schedules shall not apply to a computerized reservation system
used by an air carrier or a group of air carriers:
( a )  in its own office or offices and sales counters clearly
identified as such; or
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
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 ( b )  to provide information and, or distribution facilities
accessible through a public telecommunications
network, clearly and continuously identifying the
information provider or providers as such.
(2)  Where booking is performed directly by an air carrier, the
provisions of article 12(1)( d ) and ( f ) shall apply.
Auditing of 
technical 
compliance of 
computerized 
reservation system.
15. (1)  The system vendor shall ensure that its computerized
reservation system complies with the technical requirements listed
in articles 6 and 8, and that this compliance is monitored by an
independent auditor on a calendar year basis. For that purpose, the
auditor shall be granted access at all times to any programmes,
procedures, operations and safeguards used on the computers or
computer systems through which the system vendor provides its
distribution facilities. Each system vendor shall submit its auditor’s
report on his inspection and findings to the Director within four
months of the end of the calendar year under review.
(2) The system vendor shall inform participating carriers and
the Director of the identity of the auditor at least three months
before his appointment and at least three months before each
annual reappointment. If, within one month of notification, any of
the participating carriers objects to the capability of the auditor to
carry out the tasks as required under this article, the Director shall,
within a further two months, and after consultation with the
auditor, the system vendor and any other party claiming a
legitimate interest, decide whether or not the auditor is to be
replaced.
Applicability to 
rail transport 
products.
16. (1) Subject to the provisions of subarticles (2) to (5), the
provisions of this Act apply where a system vendor decides to
include rail services in the principal display of its computerized
reservation system.
 (2)  Where a system vendor decides to include rail products in
the principal display of its computerized reservation system, it may
choose to include only certain well-defined categories of rail
services, while respecting the principles stated in article 3(2).
 (3)  A rail transport operator shall be deemed to be a
participating or parent carrier, as appropriate, for the purposes of
this Act, insofar as it has an agreement with a system vendor for the
distribution of its products through the principal display of a
computerized reservation system or where its own reservation
system is a computerized reservation system as defined in article 2.
Subject to subarticle (4), those products shall be treated in the same
manner as air transport products and shall be incorporated in the
principal display in accordance with the criteria set out in the First
Schedule.
 (4)  ( a )  When applying the rules laid down in paragraphs 1 and
2 of the First Schedule to rail services, the system vendor shall
adjust the ranking principles for the principal display in order to
take due account of the needs of consumers to be adequately
informed of rail services that represent a competitive alternative to
the air services. In particular, system vendors may rank rail
services with a limited number of short stops with non-stop direct
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air services.
( b )  System vendors shall define clear criteria for the
application of the provisions of this article to rail services. Such
criteria shall cover elapsed journey time and reflect the need to
avoid excessive screen padding. Those criteria shall be submitted
to the Director at least two months before their application.
 (5)  For the purposes of this article, all references to "flights" in
this Act shall be deemed to include references to "rail services" and
references to "air transport products" shall be deemed to include
references to "rail products".
Prohibition of 
renunciation to 
rights.
17. The beneficiaries of rights arising under the provisions
articles 3(4), 6, 8 and 15 may not renounce to those rights by
contractual or any other means.
Procedures before 
the Board.
18. (1) The Director shall, acting either on his own initiative
or on receipt of a complaint, initiate proceedings before the Board
to terminate any infringement of the provisions of this Act.
(2) Complaints may be submitted by natural or legal persons
who claim a legitimate interest.
Computerised 
Reservation 
Systems Board.
19. (1) There shall be established a Computerised Reservation
Systems Board, which shall consist of an advocate with not less
than twelve years experience, as chairman, sitting with two
technical assessors.
(2) The chairman and the technical assessors of the Board shall
be appointed by the Prime Minister from year to year:
Provided that the Prime Minister may renew any
appointment from year to year and he may direct, on making any
new appointment, that the outgoing chairman or assessor shall
continue to sit on the Board in respect of any matter whereof he has
already taken cognizance before the termination of his appointment
until such matter is disposed of.
(3) The Prime Minister may also make any necessary
appointments for the purpose of surrogating the chairman or any
assessor of the Board in the event of his being, for any reason,
unable to carry out his functions with respect to any particular case
or cases.
(4) The chairman or any assessor of the Board shall not be
competent to take cognizance of or deal with any matter in which
he has a direct or an indirect interest.
(5) The technical assessors of the Board shall, before entering
upon their office, take before the Attorney General an oath to the
effect that they shall examine and decide any matter referred to
them under the provisions of this Act with equity and impartiality.
(6) The chairman of the Board shall have, for the purpose of
collecting the evidence and establishing the facts relating to any
matter before the Board, all such powers as are by the Code of
Organisation and Civil Procedure vested in the Civil Court, First
Hall, for the like purpose in relation to any matter before it.
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 13
(7) Subject to any regulations made under article 21, the Board
shall regulate its own procedure.
(8) The Prime Minister shall appoint a public officer to act as
secretary to the Board.
Review of 
decisions.
20. (1) Any decision of the Board shall be final and binding.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subarticle (1), the Board
may, on a new fact being brought to its notice, review a decision
given by it:
Provided that - 
( a ) the application for review is lodged in writing with the
Board within twenty days from the date on which the
decision is communicated to the undertaking or
association of undertakings; and
( b ) a review of the decision shall in no case involve the
Board in any liability for any damages which may
have been sustained in consequence of the first
decision.
Power to make 
regulations.
21. The Minister may, from time to time, make and, when
made, alter or revoke regulations generally for giving effect to any
of the provisions of this Act and particularly for making provision
regarding the procedure before the Board, the liability of any of the
parties in respect of the expenses incurred in connection therewith
and to prescribe anything that is to be prescribed under this Act.
Supply of 
information to the 
Board.
22. (1) In carrying out the duties assigned to it by this Act, the
Board may obtain all necessary information from undertakings and
from any association of undertakings.
(2) The Board may fix a time limit of not less than one month
for the communication of the information requested.
(3) In its request the Board shall state the legal basis and
purpose of the request and also the penalties, which may be
imposed in accordance with article 23(1), for the supply of
incorrect information.
(4) The owners of the undertakings or their representatives
and, in the case of a legal person or of companies, firms or
associations not having legal personality, the person authorised to
represent them by law or by their rules, shall be bound to supply the
information requested.
(5) Undertakings and associations of undertakings shall submit
to investigations ordered by a decision of the Board. The decision
shall specify the subject matter and the purpose of the
investigation, appoint the date on which it is to begin and indicate
the penalties which may be imposed in accordance with article
23(1).
Disciplinary 
penalties.
23. (1) The Board may impose disciplinary penalties, on
undertakings or associations of undertakings, of not less than four
hundred liri but not exceeding twenty thousand liri where the
undertakings or associations of undertakings, whether intentionally
or negligently - 
14 CAP. 434. ħ  
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS
( a ) supply incorrect information in response to a request
made pursuant to article 22, or do not supply
information within the time limit fixed; or
( b ) produce books or other business records in incomplete
form during investigations, or refuse to submit to an
investigation pursuant to article 22(5).
(2) The Board may impose disciplinary penalties on system
vendors, parent carriers, participating carriers and, or subscribers
for infringements of the provisions of this Act up to a maximum of
ten per cent of the annual turnover for the relevant activity of the
undertaking concerned. In fixing the amount of the penalty, regard
shall be had both to the seriousness and to the duration of the
infringement.
(3) Decisions imposing disciplinary penalties, pursuant to the
provisions of subarticles (1) and (2), shall not be of a penal nature,
and any such penalties shall be recoverable as a civil debt by the
Director by action before the competent court of civil jurisdiction.
(4) Carriers, whether they are parent or participating carriers,
subscribers and system vendors shall be subject to the jurisdiction
and the procedures of, and the administrative penalties imposed by,
the Board.
FIRST SCHEDULE
P R I N C I P A L  D I S P L A Y  R A N K I N G  C R I T E R I A   F O R  F L I G H T S *  
O F F E R I N G  U N B U N D L E D  A I R  T R A N S P O R T  P R O D U C T S
(Articles 5, 7 and 16)
1. Ranking of flight options in a principal display, for the day or
days requested, shall be in the following order unless
requested in a different way by a consumer for an individual
transaction:
(i) all non-stop direct flights between the city-pairs
concerned;
(ii) all other direct flights, not involving a change of
aircraft or train, between the city-pairs
concerned;
(iii) connecting flights.
2. A consumer shall at least be afforded the possibility of
having, on request, a principal display ranked by departure or
arrival time and/or elapsed journey time. Unless otherwise
requested by a consumer, a principal display shall be ranked
by departure time for group (i) and elapsed journey time for
groups (ii) and (iii).
3. Where a system vendor chooses to display information for
*All references to "flights" in this Schedule are in accordance with article 16(6) of the
Act.
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 15
any city-pair in relation to the schedules or fares of non-
participating carriers, but not necessarily all such carriers,
such information shall be displayed in an accurate, non-
misleading and non-discriminatory manner between carriers
displayed.
4. If, to the system vendor’s knowledge, information on the
number of direct scheduled air services and the identity of the
air carriers concerned is not comprehensive, this shall be
clearly stated on the relevant display.
5. Flights other than scheduled air services shall be clearly
identified.
6. Flights involving stops  en route  shall be clearly identified.
7. Where flights are operated by an air carrier which is not the
air carrier identified by the carrier designator code, the actual
operator of the flight shall be clearly identified. This
requirement shall apply in all cases, except for short-term  ad
hoc  arrangements.
8. A system vendor shall not use the screen space in a principal
display in a manner which gives excessive exposure to one
particular travel option or which displays unrealistic travel
options.
9. Except as provided for in paragraph 10, the following
provisions shall apply:
( a ) for direct services, no flight may be featured more than
once in a principal display;
( b ) for multi-sector services involving a change of
aircraft, no combination of flights may be featured
more than once in a principal display;
( c ) flights involving a change of aircraft shall be treated
and displayed as connecting flights, with one line per
aircraft segment. Nevertheless, where the flights are
operated by the same carrier with the same flight
number and where a carrier requires only one flight
coupon and one reservation, a computerized
reservation system should issue only one coupon and
shall charge for only one reservation.
10. (1) Where participating carriers have joint-venture or other
contractual arrangements requiring two or more of them
to assume separate responsibility for the offer and sale of
air transport products on a flight or combination of
flights, the terms "flight" (for direct services) and
"combination of flights" (for multi-sector services) in
paragraph 9 shall be interpreted as allowing each of the
carriers concerned, up to a maximum of two, to have a
separate display using its individual carrier designator
code.
(2) Where more than two carriers are involved, designation
of the two carriers entitled to avail themselves of the
exception provided for in sub-paragraph (1) shall be a
16 CAP. 434. ħ  
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS
matter for the carrier actually operating the flight. In the
absence of information from the operating carrier
sufficient to identify the two carriers to be designated, a
system vendor shall designate the carriers on a non-
discriminatory basis.
11. A principal display shall, wherever practicable, include
connecting flights on scheduled services which are operated
by participating carriers and are constructed by using a
minimum number of nine connecting points. A system vendor
shall accept a request by a participating carrier to include an
indirect service, unless the routing is in excess of 130% of the
great circle distance between the two airports or unless that
would lead to the exclusion of services with a shorter elapsed
journey time. Connecting points with routings in excess of
130% need not be used.
SECOND SCHEDULE
U S E   O F  D I S T R I B U T I O N  F A C I L I T I E S   B Y  S U B S C R I B E R S
(Articles 12 and 13)
1.  A subscriber shall keep accurate records covering all
transactions concluded through the computerized reservation
system. Those records shall include flight numbers,
reservations booking designators, date of travel, departure
and arrival times, status of segments, names and initials of
passengers with their contact addresses and/or telephone
numbers and ticketing status. When booking or cancelling
space, the subscriber shall ensure that the reservation
designator being used corresponds to the fare paid by the
passenger.
2.  A subscriber shall not deliberately make duplicate
reservations for the same passenger. Where confirmed space
is not available, the passenger may, at his choice, be wait-
listed on that flight (if wait-list is available) and confirmed on
an alternative flight.
3.  When a passenger cancels a reservation, the subscriber shall
immediately release that space.
4.  When a passenger changes an itinerary, the subscriber shall
ensure that all space and supplementary services are
cancelled when the new reservations are made.
5.  A subscriber shall, where practicable, request or process all
reservations for a specific itinerary and all subsequent
changes through the same computerized reservation system.
6.  No subscriber may request or sell airline space unless
requested to do so by a consumer.
7.  A subscriber shall ensure that a ticket is issued in accordance
with the reservation status of each segment and in accordance
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR 
COMPUTERISED RESERVATION SYSTEMS ġ CAP. 434. 17
with the applicable time limit. A subscriber shall not issue a
ticket indicating a definite reservation and a particular flight
unless confirmation of that reservation has been received.
