Lufthansa takes Sabre to court over contract dispute

Lufthansa Group last week filed a lawsuit against Sabre after the GDS company informed the airline group that it believes Lufthansa is in breach of contract. The claimed breach, according to the lawsuit, came as a result of Lufthansa’s implementation of a E16 surcharge on all GDS bookings (implemented last September), but not on bookings made via Lufthansa’s distribution channels, which Sabre claims are also GDSs. “Sabre now claims that two distribution channels of Lufthansa Group — its Direct Connection and its Agent.com Internet portal — should be considered ‘GDSs’ and thus be subject to the fee, even though both channels are expressly excluded from being considered GDSs under the contracts,” the lawsuit states. <br/>