Germany¡¯s Lufthansa Group has launched a continuous pricing offering, enabling its airlines to set fares in more than the 26 buckets traditionally used and offer customers lower prices.

The airline says the existing system ¡°leads to unnecessary price jumps¡± and does not allow them to ¡°offer the optimal price to answer customer demands when the optimal price lies between two booking classes¡±.?

At launch, fares are available for most European continental routes on Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines.?

Continuous pricing has been enabled by the carrier¡¯s adoption of IATA¡¯s New Distribution Capability (NDC).

Lufthansa said that the new fare-setting system is an element of Lufthansa Group¡¯s NDC Smart Offers as part of its NDC Partner Program and will only apply ¡°if the customer has a price advantage¡±.?

In its documentation for the new pricing offering, it said the technology does not identify individual customers, ¡°but differentiate[s] between customer enquiries and search behaviour¡±. It said this means that fares are not differentiated on the basis of personal customer data (such as gender, weight, salary, place of residence), but are based solely on the general dynamic market requirements ¨C for example, high season, day of departure/arrival, time between booking and departure. ?

Continuous pricing fare offers are only available via its NDC API (Lufthansa Group airlines direct NDC API, NDC API via a certified technology provider or its Farelogix-powered SPRK agent portal) as well as the group's .com websites. Travel agents using a GDS do not have access to the new price offers, it said.?

In the UK, travel management company Click Travel has this week become one of the first companies to offer continuous pricing for all customers using its booking platform.

Robin Smith, Click Travel¡¯s chief product engineer said: ¡°We champion direct connections with suppliers precisely because it means we can pass benefits like these on to our customers in full and without delay. Whilst others will follow, when there is a third party involved in securing new fares such as these, the customer is paying for that service one way or another. Our customers will get the full benefit of the savings available.¡±

Kevin Young, Lufthansa¡¯s senior key account manager, said: ¡°Continuous pricing eliminates the high price jumps associated with traditional pricing that often impact business travellers. The new price offer, based on continuous pricing, is lower than the standard fare, which is offered in traditional distribution channels.¡±

The airline group said that?more than two thirds of Lufthansa's NDC partners have opted in to access continuous pricing since launch.