It has been reported that Lufthansa Group are introducing a surcharge of EU16 (£11.60) for customers that purchase flights through third-party websites such as Expedia, ebookers and Opodo.
Martin Riecken, a spokesman for the German airline said: "The distribution cost charge will drive up the cost of tickets booked via so-called online travel agencies like Expedia or Opodo," adding "However, it is not about... trying to discourage anyone from comparing prices. We rather aim for more transparency. “Our rationale is twofold. Firstly, to allocate the high distribution cost of global distribution systems [the flight inventory and fare databases used by online travel agents] - we are talking about a high three-digit million euro amount per annum for the Lufthansa Group - to those that are actually using the services, instead of evenly distributing these cost to all passengers.
"Secondly, to take advantage of greater degrees of freedom in our sales activities, providing customers with the exact tailor-made service that they are looking for."
One of the online travel agencies, Opodo has already said online agencies were opposed to the move and they already have lawyers looking into the situation.
Commenting, a spokeswoman from the associations of European agencies said: "[This] is a global issue that affects all countries and worldwide travel agencies, traditional or online, corporate and leisure, and which is already being legally examined by the associations of European agencies," adding "Lufthansa Group will clearly be the one whose most affected by this decision.
"The fact that they have not provided any automated alternative to the global distribution systems will cause Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss to suffer a severe lack of competitiveness against other companies that are present in these channels and don't have an extra cost for the travellers."
The move by Lufthansa may be due to its last reported net profit of EU55 million which was an 82% decrease from the previous year.
On the plus side, Lufthansa Group’s stock traded a slightly higher following their announcement.
