ETTSA formally addresses Lufthansa’s discriminatory practices with European Commission

The complaint was filed to the Commission’s Directorate General of Mobility and Transport, which
holds enforcement powers on the Code of Conduct.
Since September 1st, Lufthansa and the main airlines under its control have been discriminating
against those customers who use independent travel agents to book their tickets by adding €16
Euros to the ticket price.
“The only way for travel agents to avoid the discriminatory surcharge is to switch from traditional
Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) to an alternative platform controlled by Lufthansa, where
only such content is shown that Lufthansa chooses to show,” said ETTSA’s Secretary General,
Christoph Klenner.
“In addition to taking travel agencies hostage and forcing them to spend unnecessary resources
on the switch to Lufthansa’s platform, Lufthansa’s move will severely hurt comparison shopping
and competition,” pointed out Mr Klenner, adding: “Ultimately, this will lead to a more restricted
choice and increased prices for consumers who will become increasingly captive”.
“That Lufthansa wants to compete with GDSs and travel agencies is not a problem for ETTSA.
On the contrary, ETTSA welcomes new competitors in travel distribution. However, there are
rules to follow if you want to be in this business and those rules do not allow the sort of
discrimination that Lufthansa is using to push its competitors out of the market. If Lufthansa wants
to run a GDS, it needs to follow the rules for GDSs,” said Mr Klenner
“The EU Code of Conduct was designed precisely to prevent abuse by airlines who control
GDSs. Therefore, the European Commission has a duty to step up and intervene in the interest
of continued transparency and consumer choice,” Mr Klenner concluded.