Lufthansa Impedes Condor in Competition for Long-Haul Flights

The German Competition Authority (“the Bundeskartellamt”) prohibits Lufthansa for the time being from terminating long-standing cooperation agreements (Special Prorate Agreements, SPAs) with Condor. Statement of obstruction is that Lufthansa is the only airline at these airports which offers a network of feeder flights to European destinations, including domestic flight connections in particular. On the other hand, it will not be possible for Condor in the foreseeable future to offer its long-haul passengers a similarly seamless journey by using train or bus services to reach an airport.

Due to its dominant position in offering feeder flights, Lufthansa is subject to abuse control under competition law and thus has to fulfil special obligations towards other market participants.

The airlines have differing views on whether to keep the accords going given that Lufthansa is increasingly putting itself in direct competition with Condor in the long-haul tourist flying market, particularly with Eurowings Discover.

The Bundeskartellamt’s assessment is that a sufficient level of competition on the merits and price competition is only possible on the already strongly concentrated indirect long-haul routes if Condor can access the upstream services of Lufthansa, the dominant company on the feeder flight market, against payment based on SPAs. Otherwise, in contrast to its competitors, Condor would not be able to offer seamless long-haul connections from the departure airport to the destination with through-checked baggage and full travel protection in the case of delays or flight cancellations.

A mere continuation of the agreements that have been used so far is not sufficient to effectively ensure Condor's entitlement to access feeder flights.

Under competition law Lufthansa is also not allowed to restrict Condor's booking and price control by setting rules on booking classes that Condor can offer its long-haul passengers The validity of the decision is not limited, but the decision may be subject to revocation.

If the market and competition conditions change, the Bundeskartellamt can examine upon request whether, for example, alternative options would then be available to Condor other than Lufthansa's feeder flight network.

You can reach the full text of the public announcement here.

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys at Law

info@zumbul.av.tr