GDS expert Alex Cruz warned corporates and agencies not to expect immediate changes if GDSs were to be de-regulated in Europe.
He told a Brussels forum that no major trends had developed in America since GDSs were de-regulated there.
The forum, organised by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and the Belgian Association of Travel Managers was attended by 120 delegates from seven countries.
Mr Cruz, a partner with Accenture's Custom Centric Aviation practice in EMEA, said there had been some initiatives since de-regulation in the States, notably by North West Airlines and Hertz which had both tried and failed to impose fees on buyers.
“We are going to see new things come to the market place, some of which will be adopted and some of which will fail,” he said.
“But there has been no widespread reaction in the States and there will probably not be any immediate effects here.”
Potentially, Mr Cruz said there could be changes in bi-lateral relations between airlines and agencies. “There is already some bias in display of flights on some websites,” he said.
Corporates and agencies could also find that GDS displays were “fragmented” and they would likely need access to more than one GDS.
“It could also be that some GDSs will gravitate towards allying themselves with one of the airline alliances,” he said.
Mr Cruz said the situation in Europe was different to that in the USA as Amadeus, one of the leading GDSs, was still partly owned by airlines. These had indicated that they wished to retain a stake in the company when it is probably sold this spring.
The EC is likely to adopt the recommended option of the Brattle Report which it commissioned to study the effect of de-regulation.
The basic recommendation is aimed at stopping abuse by airlines with GDS stakes by compelling them to display fairly the inventories of all other airlines in their – the stakeholder's – home market.
Mr Cruz advised corporates to watch the situation, keep talking to their preferred airlines and GDSs about their plans and “push on” with online booking.