Travel agencies in Switzerland could face extra charges of hundreds of thousands of Euros if the dispute between Lufthansa/SWISS and IT company Amadeus is not settled.
One consortium of six agencies told ABTN that it faced extra charges of €400,000 a year if the row was not ended.
Jean-Claude Fert, managing director of Geneva-based Fert Voyages, said his agencies would not be able to absorb this amount.
The row between Amadeus and Lufthansa, which owns an 11.5% stake in the IT company, dates back to January when the airline and its sister carrier SWISS announced plans to impose surcharges on certain types of tickets when booked through a GDS.
Jean-Claude Fert
Other GDSs, including Sabre, Galileo and Worldspan, signed up to deals with Lufthansa to exempt their agents from the charges.
But Amadeus, the dominant GDS in Germany, did not reach any agreement with Lufthansa despite exhaustive talks.
Lufthansa/SWISS began levying the new charges on July 1 in Germany and Austria and from October 1 in Switzerland.
Fares went up by €15 one way or €30 return on all tickets bought in the three countries.
But the carriers have continued to make available the previous lower fares.
They are called "preferred fares" and are the subject to a surcharge if booked through a GDS.
Lufthansa charges agencies €4.90 plus VAT per coupon and SWISS charges CHF8 (€5) per booking.
It is this surcharge that Amadeus is opposing.
The row has gone to court in Germany where a judge in an interim agreement found for the airline although Amadeus has said it will appeal.
In Switzerland it is due to go before a panel which will decide whether it is fair competition or not. No date has been fixed for this hearing.
The existing deal on GDS fees between Lufthansa and Amadeus is understood to last until the end of the year.
Amadeus has told agents in Switzerland it will absorb the surcharges until then.
"Amadeus has told us it is fighting because the contract it has signed with Lufthansa is valid until the end of the year," Mr Fert said.
"They have told us they will support the fees we have had to pay since October until the end of the year.
"If a solution is found before December 31, it will be over. But of course we don't know what will happen on January 1, 2009.
"The bill for agents could be massive. According to our 2007 figures, for the six of us it would be €400,000.
"We can't absorb that. If we wanted to pass it on, I am not sure the customer would accept it.
"We are now faced with the competition of those using Galileo or Sabre who have no extra fees. The situation is that some agents will change from Amadeus to Galileo or Sabre."
Mr Fert also warned that he was "pretty sure" that if Lufthansa/SWISS succeeded in imposing this charge, other airlines, including BA and Air France KLM would "jump into it" as well.
Visit www.amadeus.com and www.lufthansa.com.