Rejection of the complaint submitted by „Fly One Airlines” SRL

On 05.11.2025, the complaint submitted by „Fly One Airlines” SRL was received by the Competition Council, alleging the supposed infringement of the provisions of art. 11 para. (1) letter c) and art. 12 para. (2) letter b) of the Competition Law No. 183/2012 by „Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău” ÎS, through the selective and discriminatory granting of facilities and tariff exemptions for airport services within the Program of facilities and exemptions for the payment of airport service charges, approved by Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Developmen Order No. 184/2023.

Following the preliminary examination of the complaint, the Competition Council analyzed both the legal statute of „Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău” ÎS and the conditions for the application of the Program approved by Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development Order No. 184/2023. From the perspective of art. 12 of Competition Law No. 183/2012, based on the circumstances of the case, it was established that „Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău” ÎS cannot be qualified as a public authority, as it does not exercise public power prerogatives, but carries out economic activity as a commercial operator. Therefore, its conduct does not fall within the scope of art. 12 of Competition Law No. 183/2012.

With regard to the alleged infringement of art. 11 para. (1) letter c) of Competition Law No. 183/2012, the Competition Council analyzed whether the refusal to grant facilities constitutes a discriminatory practice. In this respect, it was noted that, in order to benefit from facilities, air operators must fulfill the conditions provided by the Program.

The analysis of the case materials demonstrated that „Fly One Airlines” SRL did not effectively launch any destination/regular route from AIC within the meaning of the Program’s objective, but took over the routes and destinations previously operated by „Fly One” SRL. Thus, the existence of an economic and operational continuity between the two companies was established, they being considered a single economic entity. The transfer of routes and the maintenance of the same destinations and frequencies cannot be assimilated to a new market entry and do not correspond to the purpose of the Program, which aims at developing air traffic by attracting new routes and air operators.

Thus, by Decision No. APD-02 of 23.01.2026, the Plenum of the Competition Council decided to reject the complaint submitted by „Fly One Airlines” SRL due to the lack of reasonable grounds to suspect the infringement of the provisions of art. 11 para. (1) letter c) and art. 12 para. (2) letter b) of Competition Law No. 183/2012 by „Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău” ÎS.