Lufthansa and Air France tighten the debate on GDS distribution

First it was Lufthansa and now it is Air France-KLM that may jump on the bandwagon of charging a surcharge for bookings made through GDSs as a means of encouraging direct sales through its website. The announcement has generated a lively controversy in the sector.

 

The German airline continues in its thirteen and ensures that from September will apply a surcharge of 16 euros to all tickets that are booked outside its official website. This announcement coincides with the timing of the contract negotiation between Lufthansa and Amadeus, the leading GDS in Europe. Although Air France-KLM has publicly supported Lufthansa's position, in its case it would not be able to implement it for two years, which is when its contract with Amadeus expires.

Although it has not started to be applied, it is certain that the debate has caused in recent days stock market movements downward, both in Amadeus and in the booking portal eDreams. In principle, the Lufthansa fee will not apply when it is a travel agent booking through the airline group's professional portal.

The travel agencies have strongly criticized the measure, since, if it comes into force, it will force them to enter the system of Lufthansa or other airlines that follow this criterion;The new system will also force them to enter the system of Lufthansa or other airlines that follow this criterion, instead of doing it through Amadeus, the system where most of the points of sale in Spain have their reservations centralized. According to ECTAA, the European travel agency association, this possibility complicates price comparison and makes the process less transparent.

In the same vein, Holger Taubmann, senior vice president Distribution at Amadeus IT Group, said: Travelers, depending on the channel they use to make their bookings, will have to pay more for the same service. In addition, travel agencies will be forced to accept a new commercial strategy whereby they will have to change the way they access Lufthansa-specific content and increase the cost of technology, which will likely end up being passed on to the traveler.

Lufthansa's announcement has caused a real earthquake in the industry and is generating moves of all kinds. The Federación Empresarial de Asociaciones Territoriales de Agencias de Viajes Españolas (Fetave), for example, has met with the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) to protest what it describes as "alteration"of market rules, arbitrarily benefiting its own distribution channel to the detriment of travel agencies and GDS”.

For its part, the European Travel Agents Association (ECTAA) decided last Friday to convene an urgent meeting in Brussels to deal with the crisis generated by the unilateral announcement of the German group.