The England & Wales High Court rules on the relevance of commercial gain for establishing an abuse of dominance on the market for airport to city centre bus route (Arriva The Shires / London Luton Airport Operations)

Abuse of dominance: no commercial gain, no abuse?* Is it necessary for there to be some commercial benefit to be gained by a dominant undertaking from its conduct before that conduct can be condemned as abusive? No, says Mrs Justice Rose in Arriva the Shires Ltd v London Luton Airport Operations Ltd [2014] EWHC 64 (Ch). The case involved a claim by Arriva against Luton Airport. Arriva had operated a bus route from the airport to London Victoria for 30 years. On each occasion that Arriva’s contract expired, it had been rolled forward. Some changes in management took place at Luton. Luton decided not to roll forward Arriva’s contract upon its expiry in April 2013.