Emirates in German pricing row

Emirates airline is heading for a diplomatic row in Europe following a dispute between the Dubai airline and Germany

Emirates passengers to Germany will have to pay more for their tickets according to a report in the London Financial Times.

Emirates said the “imminent threat of significant fines” had forced it to raise the price of business fares on routes including Frankfurt to Johannesburg, and Hamburg to Singapore by as much as 20%.

The airline says the “anti-consumer” and “commercially nonsensical” policy was unfair because it has not been applied to other airlines flying out of Germany, and it plans to raise the matter with the European Commission.

The head of Germany’s central transport watchdog, the Federal Office for Goods Transport, wrote to Emirates earlier this week confirming it was “not allowed to engage in price leadership” on routes out of Germany to non-EU countries. A spokesperson for Lufthansa said it was nothing to do with them.