9 Nov 2009 3:57pm
Berlin forces up Emirates’ business fares
By Pilita Clark in London and Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
The Financial Times
Berlin has forced Dubai’s Emirates airline to charge more for business class tickets on flights out of Germany, in a sign of concern the Middle East’s biggest airline is prompting as it expands its presence in Europe.
Emirates said the “imminent threat of significant fines” had forced it to raise the price of business fares on routes including Frankfurt to Johannesburg, and Hamburg to Singapore by as much as 20 per cent.
The airline says the “anti-consumer” and “commercially nonsensical” policy was unfair because it has not been applied to other airlines flying out of Germany, and it plans to raise the matter with the European Commission.
The head of the Germany’s central transport watchdog, the Federal Office for Goods Transport, wrote to Emirates earlier this week confirming it was “not allowed to engage in price leadership” on routes out of Germany to non-EU countries.
“Please let me underline that the measure has not been taken unilaterally at the expense of Emirates,” said Andreas Marquardt, the office president.
“I have asked also other non-EU carriers to take their prices from the market.”
Mr Marquardt said his office had acted under a law used in cases where “public transport interests are being permanently damaged”.
A spokesman for the office on Thursday would not comment on the size of the fines, but confirmed other airlines had definitely been asked to raise their fares too.
Andrew Parker, Emirates senior vice president, said he was unaware of any other airlines that had been asked to raise prices. “I think we rang about a dozen airlines to ask if they had received a letter like this and they all said, ‘what are you talking about?’,” he said.
“We are adamant this is selective and clearly an attempt by Lufthansa [Germany’s national carrier] to pursue Emirates versus a legitimate policy.”
A Lufthansa spokeswoman said it had not had anything to do with the government’s move.
“We haven’t been the ones that have been finger-pointing and we can’t comment on steps taken by the ministry,” she said.
Emirates currently has permission to fly to four German airports: Munich, Dussedorf, Hamburg and Frankfurt and want two more. Lufthansa has opposed the expansion saying it does not have comparable access to the Gulf.
Berlin forces up Emirates’ business fares
By Pilita Clark in London and Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
The Financial Times
Berlin has forced Dubai’s Emirates airline to charge more for business class tickets on flights out of Germany, in a sign of concern the Middle East’s biggest airline is prompting as it expands its presence in Europe.
Emirates said the “imminent threat of significant fines” had forced it to raise the price of business fares on routes including Frankfurt to Johannesburg, and Hamburg to Singapore by as much as 20 per cent.
The airline says the “anti-consumer” and “commercially nonsensical” policy was unfair because it has not been applied to other airlines flying out of Germany, and it plans to raise the matter with the European Commission.
The head of the Germany’s central transport watchdog, the Federal Office for Goods Transport, wrote to Emirates earlier this week confirming it was “not allowed to engage in price leadership” on routes out of Germany to non-EU countries.
“Please let me underline that the measure has not been taken unilaterally at the expense of Emirates,” said Andreas Marquardt, the office president.
“I have asked also other non-EU carriers to take their prices from the market.”
Mr Marquardt said his office had acted under a law used in cases where “public transport interests are being permanently damaged”.
A spokesman for the office on Thursday would not comment on the size of the fines, but confirmed other airlines had definitely been asked to raise their fares too.
Andrew Parker, Emirates senior vice president, said he was unaware of any other airlines that had been asked to raise prices. “I think we rang about a dozen airlines to ask if they had received a letter like this and they all said, ‘what are you talking about?’,” he said.
“We are adamant this is selective and clearly an attempt by Lufthansa [Germany’s national carrier] to pursue Emirates versus a legitimate policy.”
A Lufthansa spokeswoman said it had not had anything to do with the government’s move.
“We haven’t been the ones that have been finger-pointing and we can’t comment on steps taken by the ministry,” she said.
Emirates currently has permission to fly to four German airports: Munich, Dussedorf, Hamburg and Frankfurt and want two more. Lufthansa has opposed the expansion saying it does not have comparable access to the Gulf.
