The Competition Council of Moldova announced that it is monitoring developments across several markets in the Republic of Moldova amid tensions in the Persian Gulf region, which have led to higher air ticket prices on certain international routes and reports of temporarily limited fuel availability at some sales points, bani.md reports.
The authority said it is also analyzing the wholesale diesel market to verify whether competitive mechanisms function properly and whether any behavior could distort competition or harm consumers.
“Price fluctuations may be driven by external factors and market conditions, such as costs, logistics routes or available capacities. The role of the Competition Council is to monitor whether competitive mechanisms function correctly and whether behaviors arise that could distort competition or prejudice consumers,” the institution said in a statement.
In this context, the Council urged economic operators to clearly communicate sales conditions and any temporary limitations.
Ticket prices on the Dubai–Chisinau route have increased significantly, in some cases reaching several thousand euros for a single flight. According to offers published by airlines, a ticket with Flydubai for March 11 costs approximately 1,043 euros in economy class for a direct flight of about five and a half hours, while fares on this route usually range between 250 and 400 euros.
Even larger differences appear for some flights operated by the Moldovan airline FlyOne, where ticket prices for certain near-term dates reach approximately 4,557 euros for a single seat.