Lufthansa is forging ahead with its efforts to establish partnerships with intermediaries and other travel brands – with Google going live this week.
The airline is currently embroiled in a bruising battle with the global distribution systems (Sabre, Travelport, Amadeus) after imposing a Euro 16 fee on any ticket sold through their respective agency customers.
Lufthansa wants intermediaries to book direct, rather than using the GDSs, so at the same time as introducing the Distribution Cost Charge in September it has been trying to encourage use of its own portal.
In parallel, Lufthansa is signing up direct-connect distribution partners and also starting to establish relationships with metasearch engines.
Arguably the most high profile of a clutch of friendly intermediaries is Google.
Travellers using Google Flight Search will now be able to secure tickets directly with the airline via a Book On Google button featured in the search results.
The feature is only available at present to users in the US and will be on both desktop and mobile versions of Google Flight Search.
Passengers complete their booking using Google Wallet.
