GDS deals particularly incentive-based schemes which promise certain fares for lower distribution costs should be closely monitored, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) said.
In a new report The GDS Deregulation in Europe, it said new alternative distribution models, like G2 Switchworks, were entering the market and new value-pricing models between the airlines and GDSs will emerge next year, when existing agreements, like Sabre's DCA programme, expire.
It was also possible that fares for the low cost carriers could become more widely available in a newly de-regulated environment which included the new pricing models.
The report said that ACTE had found in talks over two years with people in the industry that “restricted access to content is the chief concern among travel managers in Europe and in the US.”
It added: “Some industry members who have spoken at ACTE Forums have voiced their concerns about how Amadeus's airline owners, if free to operate as they please without any oversight, will use sensitive Marketing Information Data Tapes (MIDT).
“Sharing of this data is restricted under current regulations, but could become available in a deregulated environment.”
The report said that those who wanted de-regulation also agreed with the Brattle Group that, so long as Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa kept a stake in Amadeus, the mandatory rule, barring GDSs from display bias, must remain.
This side also feared that Amadeus's owner-airlines, which have a dominant presence in the carriers' respective home markets (France, Spain and Germany), could use this dominance to the competitive disadvantage.
Others in the industry including those opposed to full de-regulation, recognised that vertical relationships between airlines and GDSs could create significant efficiencies.
De-regulation could increase competition by spurring more value-based pricing schemes, which would ultimately drive out excess cost.
Peter Sijbers, global commodity manager Philips General Purchasing and ACTE EMEA regional chair said: “GDSs play a key role in distribution and channeling and de-regulation will lead to an environment of open markets, putting airlines and GDSs into a more competitive arena.
“It is key for corporates that GDSs continue to distribute the most extensive content possible.”