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Lufthansa hits back at Ryanair in row over Laudamotion
Lufthansa has hit back at Ryanair in a row over Ryanair’s takeover of Laudamotion.
The Irish low-cost carrier had accused the German airline of trying to jeopardise the deal.
It claims Lufthansa is attempting to remove nine aircraft it was obliged by the Commission to provide to Laudamotion in order to allow Laudamotion to restart services.
Ryanair said it was the latest in a series of efforts by Lufthansa to ‘destabilise and damage’ Laudamotion.
But Lufthansa issued a response on Friday afternoon saying Ryanair’s allegations are ‘completely unfounded’.
"Lufthansa has fully complied with all EU Commission obligations regarding the required transfer of aircraft to Laudamotion. This is true of both the number of aircraft involved and their leasing terms," it said.
"All the aircraft covered by the EU derogation decision were offered for sale to Laudamotion by Lufthansa. Laudamotion rejected this offer, preferring to lease the aircraft instead.
"Laudamotion has recently failed – repeatedly – to meet its contractually-agreed lease payment obligations."
Lufthansa said it has exercised its ‘contractually-agreed right of termination’ because of a violation of contractual terms by Laudamotion, and has terminated the lease agreements on nine aircraft due to the non-payment of the lease amounts.
Minutes after Lufthansa issued its statement, Ryanair issued another one, accusing Lufthansa of making false claims.
Ryanair’s Juliusz Komorek said: "Lufthansa is abusing its dominant position in the German and Austrian markets in a blatant attempt to eliminate a much smaller, Austrian competitor, Laudamotion. Lufthansa’s attempt to terminate Laudamotion’s 9 aircraft leases during the peak of the summer period, at a time which would cause maximum damage to Laudamotion and its customers, is in breach of its obligations to the EU.
"Lufthansa dominates the German, Austrian, and Swiss markets and the fact that it is now abusing this position to try to remove Laudamotion’s aircraft fleet, while refusing to pay Laudamotion lease payments that are months overdue, is in flagrant breach of fair procedure and competition rules. It is Lufthansa who has repeatedly failed to pay Laudamotion over €1.5m of lease payments for March, April and May."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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