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Lufthansa shifts low fares direct


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


Lufthansa’s cheapest fares from London and Manchester will not be available via global distribution systems from Thursday this week as the airline group introduces discounted ‘NDC Smart Offer’ fares in the UK and Ireland.


One-way economy ‘light’ and ‘classic’ Smart Offer fares on Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines flights will be £9 cheaper and return fares £17 cheaper than the lowest GDS fares. Agents who book direct will also escape the £11.30 GDS ‘distribution cost charge’ the group imposes, as will consumers, meaning a combined saving of £20.30 on a one-way ticket. The move is the latest salvo by


Europe’s leading network carriers – Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia and Air France-KLM – to cut GDS distribution costs by driving corporate and leisure agents and tour operators to book via online portals or direct-connect channels in line with Iata’s New Distribution Capability (NDC). Agents can only access the fares


by joining Lufthansa’s NDC Partner Programme, registering with the group’s web-based SPRK platform or booking online. Lufthansa introduced similar discount fares in Germany in early April. The group is offering a €1-per-coupon incentive on every booking to agents who sign up with SPRK between now and the end of the year. Andreas Koester, Lufthansa


senior sales director for the UK, confirmed: “The fares are only available through NDC and online channels. The incentive of €1 per coupon means if you sell a London-Frankfurt return ticket you receive €2.” He said: “SPRK is for smaller agencies who will not go into API [data transfer] discussions with us to allow them to get NDC offers.” Koester said the group is “in discussions with many agencies” but declined to give figures on agents’ take-up of the non-GDS channels in the UK or Germany. He dismissed concerns about


agents’ ability to compare airline offers without fares being displayed on GDSs, saying: “Fare comparison depends on the multi- sourcing technology of the agency.”


Marella Explorer.


Inset: Chris Hackney (left) and Fritz Joussen


Tui chiefs’ mixed views on indies


Harry Kemble and Lucy Huxley


The boss of Tui-owned Marella Cruises has claimed third-party sales are “key” to the line despite the chief executive of parent Tui Group being a “big fan of direct distribution”.


Marella Cruises managing


director Chris Hackney said the line had “invested” to encourage third-party distribution. Speaking on new ship Marella


Explorer on a Palma-Barcelona trade inaugural last week, where about 40 of the 700 retail staff were third- party agents, Hackney said: “We are seeing growth in terms of our third-party agents, which is great. “Our third-party sales have


grown over the last two years and are 60% up year on year this year. It is a key area for us.” He cited the introduction of e-learning tool Discover Marella Cruises, in February, as one way the line was trying to engage with independent agents. He added: “The investment we


Lufthansa is making ‘Smart Offer’ fares available only direct


have put in the e-learning tool and doing educationals gives [third- party agents] a chance to see our


“Chris could sell on the moon . . . as long as Marella stays as successful as it is in the UK, that’s fine”


product and means they have sold Marella better than ever before.” Hackney would not reveal what


proportion of sales for Marella, which rebanded from Thomson Cruises last year, were direct-sell. Just 24 hours later, Tui Group


chief executive Fritz Joussen told media on Marella Explorer that having “very little independent sales” in the UK was a “good thing”. He said: “I am a big fan of direct distribution”. But he added: “The UK business is a great business and very successful – one of the best in the group. So if they decide to [sell through third-party agents], they can do what they like, as long as they remain successful. “If Chris [Hackney] wants to sell on the moon, as long as he doesn’t fiddle with the brand, and Marella stays as successful as it is in the


UK, then that’s fine.” › Special Report, page 14 › Talk Back, page 21


24 May 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 5 3 STORIES HOT


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