Sabre and Lufthansa today announced a four-year global distribution agreement, effective July 1, extending an arrangement reached in May 2008 and set to expire June 30, 2009, through which Sabre subscribers were shielded from the carrier's Preferred Fares surcharge.
Lufthansa's Preferred Fares Program imposes a €4.90 per-way surcharge, in addition to value-added tax, on fares booked through the global distribution systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Sabre and Travelport have negotiated for their subscribers to be shielded from the fee, though Amadeus subscribers continue to be subject to it. Travelport GDS last year signed an agreement with Lufthansa, effective July 2008, offering "full content" to subscribers and a waiving of the surcharge through 2011.
Amadeus last month said it had yet to come to terms with Lufthansa to shield its subscribers from the Preferred Fares Program surcharge, and a representative said the GDS—dominant in Lufthansa's home market—stands to lose "significant" marketshare in Germany as a result
(BTNonline, April 3).