Lufthansa Group on Oct. 1 will raise its global distribution system surcharge to €19 from €16 per ticket, the carrier confirmed, with upward adjustments in other local point-of-sale currencies around the world. For example, the surcharge will be $21 at the U.S. point of sale and £17 in the United Kingdom.
Lufthansa Group attributed the hike to "price increases" from GDS operators, which have risen since 2015 when the airline group launched its distribution cost charge. Group carriers Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Dolomiti and Brussels Airlines apply the surcharge for GDS bookings.
Lufthansa Group does not levy the fee for bookings made through non-GDS channels, including its airline websites, a group-hosted agent portal and through its New Distribution Capability-based application programming interface that agencies can access through a direct connect or such aggregators as Travelfusion.