Eurowings has registered a complaint with the German Federal Monopolies Commission about Lufthansa's Miles and More frequent-flyer scheme.
The German regional airline claims that the scheme violates German competition laws covering extras and discounts - although Eurowings admits that it believes these laws to be "outdated".
Lufthansa is competing directly with Eurowings through its Team Lufthansa partners Augsburg Airways and Cimber Air, on routes from Dortmund to Berlin and Munich, and from Munich to Paderborn. Both the Lufthansa partner airlines offer their passengers Miles and More credits on these routes, which Eurowings argues gives them an unfair competitive advantage.
The airline says that the commission could cause Lufthansa - and, by implication, its competitor Deutsche BA - to stop offering frequent-flyer schemes on domestic routes, or it could force Lufthansa to allow Eurowings to offer Lufthansa schemes on routes where the airlines compete.
Lufthansa declines to comment, other than saying that it has so far received no formal notification of the complaint.
Source: Flight International
