German airline Lufthansa has taken legal action against a customer who did not appear for the final leg of their ticketed journey.
The airline is suing the passenger in an attempt to combat "hidden city" ticketing, which involves travellers exiting their journey at a layover point rather than making a final connection.
An example of the practice outlined by CNN explains that a passenger travelling between New York and San Francisco could book a cheaper trip from New York to Lake Tahoe with a layover in San Francisco and exit their journey at the latter location instead of continuing onto the last leg of the flight.
Violation Of Terms And Conditions
A court document states that the passenger being sued by Lufthansa was booked onto a return flight from Oslo to Seattle with a layover in Frankfurt, but failed to board the Frankfurt to Oslo return flight, instead choosing to avail of a separate flight from Frankfurt to Berlin.
Lufthansa viewed this as a violation of its terms and conditions, and the airline is seeking €2,112 in compensation as a result.
While the case was dismissed in December by a district court in Berlin, a Lufthansa spokesperson has confirmed to CNN that the airline has filed an appeal against the decision.
© 2019 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
