KARLSRUHE/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - In a significant dispute over passenger rights, Lufthansa has lost its case before Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The Karlsruhe court ruled that the airline cannot demand additional payments if passengers, for understandable reasons, only fly certain segments of a booked journey (Case No.: X ZR 110/24). The news was first reported by the portal "Aero Telegraph."
According to the BGH, the decisive factor is that, at the time of booking, passengers still intended to complete the entire journey and only later changed their plans. In such cases, they should not be required to pay any surcharges.
Connecting Flights Often Cheaper Than Direct Routes
While the BGH recognizes Lufthansa's freedom to set its own prices, this often means that, for competitive reasons, connecting flights via a hub are offered at a much lower price than the direct flight from the hub itself. For example, a ticket from Oslo-Frankfurt-New York is usually significantly cheaper than a direct Frankfurt-New York flight. To prevent abuse, many airlines require all legs of the journey to be flown in the order listed on the ticket and reserve the right to recalculate the fare if this is not observed.
Lufthansa has since amended its conditions of carriage for German citizens on this point. Passengers are now required to notify the airline of any changes to their travel plans as early as possible. The BGH places the burden of proof for the validity of these reasons on the consumer. This regulation had already applied to Austrian passengers.
