European Booking Sites Call Lufthansa’s Distribution Surcharge Illegal
Photo Credit: A Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 lands in Ottawa. Flickr.com / Doug
Skift Take
Lufthansa Group is standing pat as booking sites move in opposition to its planned surcharge. But consumers will be the ones hurt by the surcharge if booking sites end up passing the extra cost down to fliers.
A group of European booking sites has penned a statement calling Lufthansa Group's planned surcharge on bookings outside its direct channels "manifestly illegal."
Etraveli, e-Travel, the Lastminute.com Group, Travelgenio, Travelplanet24, Travix, Unister Travel, and eDreams Odigeo all signed on to pressure Lufthansa to drop its upcoming surcharge on bookings made using global distribution systems. All of these sites use such systems to process travelers airline bookings.
"The surcharge which will be applied by the Lufthansa Group airlines will have a signific
