Germany prohibits Emirates from selling “low cost tickets”

According to a dpa report several foreign airliners have been prohibited from selling particularly cheap tickets. Selected routes between Germany and airports from so called third countries outside the EU are affected by this ruling.
This can found in a letter written by the Federal Office for Goods Transport to the airline carrier Emirates which the German Press Agency has obtained. “I must ask that you appreciate that Emirates like other non EU airline carriers does not have the price leadership for the stated destinations in Germany ”, it says in the letter.

The Federal Office bases its decision on existing bilateral aviation conventions. The price authority for specific routes between Germany and non EU destinations should “principally reserved for designated airline carriers including airline carriers from EU member states ” it states in a letter from the Federal Office President Andreas Marquardt which was closely coordinated with the Federal Ministry of Transport.
The reasoning is based on public transport interests. The spokesman could make no statement on whether this usual practice and the names of the other airlines were also not disclosed.

This action has been severely criticized by Emirates: “In none of the other seven EU member states from where Emirates operates do such rules exist ” it says in a letter of complaint provided by Emirates to dpa. The airline has also announced that it intends to call on the European Commission for them to investigate if these regulations are in breach of competition laws or consumer protection regulations.
Affected by this ruling of the Federal Office are for example business class tickets from Frankfurt to Johannesburg as well as Hamburg and Berlin to Singapore. Emirates emphasizes that its prices are always determined fairly. They also point that on critical routes there are even cheaper offers by other airline carriers within and outside the EU.

Lufthansa will probably be grateful for this decision. They are presently under massive pressure from established low cost airlines and new competitors mainly from the Arab region. A Lufthansa spokeswoman released a quick response on behalf of the company denying any involvement with the decision of the Federal Office and dismissed any involvement with the conducted price control.