The German Federal Union of Consumer Organisations and Associations was challenging before the German courts the way in which air fares were presented in Air Berlin’s computerised booking system, as configured in November 2008: Once the date and airports of departure and arrival had been selected, the booking system displayed a table of possible connections. The final price per person, however, was indicated only for the connection pre-selected by Air Berlin or clicked on by the customer, and not for every connection shown.The Federal Union of Consumer Organisations and Associations regarded this practice as not being in compliance with the requirements of EU rules regarding price transparency of air services as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008.On Jan. 15, 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that, in the context of a computerised booking system, the final price to be paid must be indicated whenever the prices of air services are shown, including when they are shown for the first time. This applies not only to the air service specifically selected by the customer, but also to each air service in respect of which the fare is shown.Source: CJEU press release No 4/15 of Jan. 15, 2015Full text of CJEU judgement in Case C-573/13 – Air Berlin available here>>.
