Lufthansa's links with the public sector appear alive and well despite the sale of the German government's remaining 37.5 per cent stake in the carrier in October.
Two rivals claim the German flag carrier had prior knowledge of decisions by federal authorities affecting their businesses and cite a more aggressive stance by Lufthansa since its latest management restructuring.
Dortmund-based Eurowings secured a partial victory after a complaint that Lufthansa's Miles & More frequent flyer programme was an abuse of a dominant position and distorted the domestic market. The German antitrust authority has required Lufthansa to open its FFP to domestic rivals and alter the way it deals with corporate bookings.
Eurowings filed three separate complaints in May covering the FFP, predatory pricing and schedule sandwiching - no decision has been made on the last two. Karl-Friedrich Müller, vice-president marketing at Eurowings, says a decision on the FFP was expected at the end of October but was brought forward before the Lufthansa share sale. Lufthansa was told of the decision a day before Eurowings.
Müller says the airline was surprised and disappointed by the timing and detail of the ruling. The carrier had asked for Lufthansa to withdraw its FFP on competing routes but could instead find itself a member of Miles & More. For Eurowings, which made a strategic decision to avoid a FFP in Germany, the ruling raises two problems. It will have to reach a commercial agreement with Lufthansa over the redemption and price of points gained on Eurowings flights and used on Lufthansa. Second, it could make life awkward between Eurowings and its alliance partners Air France and KLM.
Müller says that it is unfair to increase the loyalty of Eurowings passengers towards Lufthansa by extending the FFP and is also concerned about Lufthansa having access to sensitive data.
The antitrust authority has required Lufthansa to provide information to corporate customers on flights booked by employees. A number of German companies have already tried to redeem their employees' points but have been frustrated by the lack of information from carriers.
Lufthansa says a new corporate card will give employers detail of flights they pay for, though points to the 1.5 million Miles & More members in Germany will remain with the individual. However, the anti-trust office says some travel agents claim the proposed card offers nothing new and at presstime was weighing up whether to reopen the case.
Separately, Lufthansa has come under fire for its alleged role in a dispute which threatened to ground UK startup Debonair in August.
The UK carrier was told by the German federal aviation authority that its operating licence was invalid, only to have the matter dismissed a few days later as a technical formality. However, Debonair, which was using the British World Airways licence but has now obtained its own, claims Lufthansa prompted the action citing prior knowledge of the authority's decision.
The UK startup, which flies a London/Luton-Düsseldorf Express-Munich sector, alleges that Lufthansa staff were offering Debonair passengers alternative flights the day before the authority told Debonair of the possible licence problem. Lufthansa's only comment is that the matter was resolved by a letter from its president Frederick Reid to Debonair chief executive Franco Mancossolo.
Source: Airline Business
