Lufthansa and Amadeus Must Sign Long Term Deal

It now appears that Lufthansa and Amadeus have to sign a long term deal for the airline’s very controversial preferred fares program. This call comes in from the DRV, an agents association, which said that the lack of an agreement was imposing higher costs for its members.

The DRV’s call came just after Amadeus offered German agents €3.40 per sector for all fares booked in the country under the PFP. This offer will leave agents to pay €1.50 when they book fares under the scheme. This was made clear in a letter to agents, and they were told that it would come into force on January 1, 2010 if a deal between the two sides was not signed.

Talks between the two carriers have been going on for almost two years with no agreement in sight. A Spokesman for Amadeus said that intensive talks were still underway. Right now Lufthansa owns 11.5 percent stakes in Amadeus.

The DRV went on to say that Amadeus agents are being faced with higher costs, as some were starting to install a second GDS in their offices just to avoid the surcharge. The chairman of the business travel committee at DRV, Stefan Vorndarn, said that the lack of a deal meant that there was still no long term security for planning for future costs. He continued by saying that the long term contract security was needed for the travel agencies, as well as for the customers.

He did go on to note that the recent announcement from Amadeus brings only short term clarity to the overall payment structure of the largest GDS in Germany. Additional costs right now have to be covered by the travel agents.