Lufthansa has hopped out of bed with Turkish Airlines, claiming the Turks are pinching too much of its business.
The Germany flag carrier said it plans to end a commercial agreement in March next year due to increasing competition between the two carriers.
Unhappy with Lufthansa’s stance, Turkish Airlines, a fellow member of the Star Alliance, said the move to end a code-share and frequent flier agreement was "unilateral".
"As a member of Star Alliance, Turkish Airlines provides its services to all passengers of the other member airlines. Code-share flights and Frequent Flyer Programme applications should be considered in this context," Turkish Airlines said in a statement.
Turkish is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, and will be boosted by the further development of a new airport in Istanbul, which is expected to rival Dubai as a hub for international traffic.
Lufthansa said the frequent flier programme and code sharing with Turkish Airlines was "no longer profitable for us economically".
Lufthansa plans to cut back on the so-called status miles it awards on Turkish code-shared flights.
