The Court of Cassation definitively supported Fiavet-Confcommercio, the Italian federation of associations of travel and tourism companies, on the reduction of Lufthansa‘s commission from 1% to 0.1% for ticket sales as being illegitimate. This opens the way for refunds in favor of travel agencies.

With a judgment published on January 16, the Supreme Court of Cassation puts an end to the dispute initiated by Fiavet-Confcommercio (Travel agents Federation and Commerce Federation) in 2016. This dispute arose following Lufthansa’s decision to reduce the commission for the sale of tickets by IATA travel agencies from 1% to 0.1%. This decision was immediately contested by the Federation, which has always been committed to defending the rights of travel agents.

Fiavet-Confcommercio argued that the airline unilaterally reduced the commission based on the regulatory provision governing the sales relationship with accredited IATA agencies. This reduction was considered symbolic and uneconomical compared to the costs and obligations (annual fee, guarantee, training/updating courses, hardware/software implementation) imposed to maintain the sales relationship.

Against the carriers’ “zero commission” policy, FIAVET took legal action and obtained two historic favorable judgments from the Milan Court and the Court of Appeal, which fully supported the Federation’s and the associated agency Fiavet-Confcommercio’s claims. Moretti Viaggi of Milan played a leading role in this dispute for the entire category.

The case concluded on January 16 when Lufthansa appealed to the Court of Cassation to annul the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Supreme Court rejected Lufthansa’s appeal, declaring all three grounds of censorship inadmissible, fully accepting the conclusions put forward by Fiavet-Confcommercio in the counter-appeal.

Commenting on the judgment, lawyer Federico Lucarelli, representing Fiavet, stated that the judgments of the first and second instance courts in Milan, which declared the nullity of the contractual clause in article 9 of PSAA/IATA, remain in force. This article regulates the sales relationship between travel agencies and more than 200 IATA carriers, particularly the part allowing carriers to unlimitedly modify the commission regime due to selling travel agencies.

Lucarelli explained that the practical effect is the right of travel agents to request from Lufthansa, based on the court decisions obtained by Fiavet-Confcommercio, the payment of the higher commission not received since January 1, 2016. This corresponds to the difference between 0.1% and 1%, applied before Lufthansa’s unauthorized reduction on June 3, 2015.

Giuseppe Ciminnisi, President of Fiavet-Confcommercio, described it as a historic day, completing an 8-year legal battle and fulfilling a commitment made to their members. He emphasized the importance of the Cassation’s decision as a starting point for reconsidering the IATA ticket sales relationship, advocating for a more flexible and collaborative approach between travel agencies and carriers. Ciminnisi expressed the hope that this decision would lead to dialogue and collaboration rather than resorting to legal actions.