A few years ago, the Lufthansa Group introduced a surcharge for booking via GDS systems, under great protest from travel agencies. Currently, an extra 19 euros is charged for each ticket sold via systems such as Amadeus, Galileo or Sabre.

Many agencies use these global distribution systems. With the contract, the Kranich Group wants to ensure that intermediaries use the company's own platform. So far, this has only been implemented to a limited extent. The Lufthansa Group is now adjusting the so-called Distribution Cost Charge.

For bookings made through Travelport, the surcharge increases to 23 euros. Via Saber you now ask for 19,50 euros. Only via Amadeus is it cheaper, because the DCC falls to 17,50 euros. The surcharges will continue to be automatically collected via the YR tax code.

In a sales circular from Lufthansa, the changes are justified, among other things, by the fact that the GDS costs are to be handled transparently and "passed on according to cause". At the same time, it is pointed out that no GDS fee is incurred when using Kranich's own sales platforms.