Skift Take
The surcharges may be disappearing, but the pressure will be on travel agencies to keep up with the airlines, and passengers may ultimately be left picking up the tab.
Two airlines that penalize bookings made through non-direct channels are seeing the fruits of their labor, but other parts of the industry could end up paying the price.
Lufthansa Group and Singapore Airlines made significant announcements this week in relation to New Distribution Capability — the technology standard developed to allow airlines to sell rich content and ancillaries directly to customers.
From January 2021, Lufthansa will bring its Light Fares and continuous pricing to American Express Global Business Travel's online booking tool Neo, via NDC, with no extra booking fee. Previously, business travelers would have paid a surcharge of $21 per ticket if booked through a global distribution system. The agreement also includes Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and Brussels Airlines.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines has expanded its tie-up with Amadeus, and will make its NDC offers available through the Amadeus Travel Platform from next year. Bookers will avoid a $12 penalty for bookings made on global distribution systems being added from January 4, 2021. Like Lufthansa, the airline also plans to introd
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