Amadeus has issued a statement about the media behind the recently launched commercial strategy announcement given by Lufthansa Group.
“Amadeus believes that the traveler is at the heart of the travel industry,” the statement said. “Travelers today are looking for consistency, transparency and choice across all channels and we as an industry can deliver that best by connecting and integrating all players.
“Lufthansa Group have chosen to go in a different direction by introducing charges that will penalize travelers based on the shopping channel they use,” the statement also said. “Travelers will either pay more for the same service or, in the case that travel agencies are forced to accept this new commercial strategy by modifying the way they access content just for LHG, there will be extra IT costs that may ultimately be passed on to the traveller, putting the travel agent, and/or the end consumer, at a disadvantage.
“Also, this new model will make comparison and transparency more difficult because travellers will now be forced to go to multiple channels to search for the best fares,” the statement said. “The industry overall, ultimately, stands to lose from this distribution model. As always, Amadeus remains open to working with all its partners and customers to serve the best interests of the travelers and the industry.”
