Statement of final price for internet flight reservations
> August 2015
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has decided that airlines must also state the final payable price even when initially stating the prices for flights in electronic booking systems. All price components are to be stated when the initial price is quoted.
Facts and circumstances:The BGH had to decide whether the sued airline which operated a multi-stage booking system at its internet address presented two different prices in the “second step”. The taxes and levies incurred for the selected flight and the fuel surcharge were shown below the table in a separate box. The “price per person” was then calculated on this basis which was displayed in a “bordered” field marked with an asterisk. Not until the end of the second booking step was reference made to a handling charge that was not initially included in the final price.
The BGH’s ruling:
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH, ruling of 30 July 2015 – I ZR 29/12) ruled that the described tabulated display used in this way contravened the provisions of Art. 23 para. 1 (2) of the directive (EC) No. 1008/2008. The pure statement of the ticket price on the first page contradicted the requirement of clarity, as the final price was not revealed to the customer until subsequent internet pages. Accordingly, no transparent presentation of the final price to be paid by the customer was provided.