GERMANY: Lufthansa Reservation Costs Applicable To September 1st

Lufthansa applies this September 1, its new tariff policy with the introduction of 16 euros extra charge for bookings via GDS.

The new tariff policy applies today for Lufthansa and its subsidiaries (Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines) with prices unchanged for booking on the website but s fee of 16 euros for bookings made ​​through GDS (Global Distribution System, or Booking Engine). Recall that these additional costs were sharply criticized by travel agents, ECTAA (European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations) has even filed a complaint with the European Commission.

Lufthansa says his side's news release dated August 31 as numerous collaborations with various partners in the airline ticket distribution sector were initiated in recent weeks. According to the first carrier of Germany, efforts to develop and create new booking channels in "direct connection" have attracted strong interest on the part of some industrial. "The market is clearly open to innovation and developments of this nature, "says Jens Bischof, member of the Executive Board and Commercial Director of Lufthansa German Airlines." The reorganization of our ticket distribution system has led many exchanges of ideas and experiences within our sector. "

And if Jens Bischof concedes that this "process is also controversial," he says, "more convinced than ever that to provide additional channels of booking both more developed and less costly and, at the same time, allow us to better promote our products, is in the interest of our customers. That is why we will continue the current process. "

Guests of the Lufthansa Group can get their tickets without paying these fees by making their reservation via the websites of companies or at branches of the group companies of airports. Travel agents can also use the dedicated portal (www.LHGroup-agent.com) as an alternative to make reservations.

Companies can continue to make reservations according to their contract rates via www.LH.com. Lufthansa has also concluded agreements with the technology provider Concur, a company of the SAP Group, which will provide enterprise customers the Lufthansa Group specific computer programs to manage reservations on www.LH.com from next year.

" We want to work with travel agents and GDS to modernize the sale of airline tickets, lower prices and be more in line with consumer expectations, "said Jens Bischof. "For this, we quickly developed a range of IT solutions that will soon be offered to our customers."