Important notes regarding short-term flight cancellations

» To the Factsheet „Notes regarding short-term flight cancellations“

In case of short-term flight cancellations within 48 hours before departure, no immediate UN will be set in the PNR. In Amadeus, flight cancellation will be evident in the DO transaction, e.g. DO LH170/02JUL or via a flight status query on the airline's website. In such a case, you are welcome to make rebookings/reissues/refunds for cancelled flights on Austrian Airlines/Brussels Airlines/Lufthansa/SWISS tickets yourself in accordance with the Schedule Change/Irregularity Policy for Travel Agents (OS/SN/LH/LX) - without having to request a waiver from your Lufthansa Group Agency Support.

In case of an automated booking of alternatives (OPR Tool) by the Lufthansa Group airlines, the ticket will be reissued automatically as described in the SKCHG/INVOL Policy, if necessary. Due to current circumstances, the period for these automated rebookings and reissues may be extended up to 5 days in select cases.

Please find attached the corresponding excerpt from the SKCHG/INVOL Policy as a reminder:

7.3 Appendix C – Automated Handling by Lufthansa Group airlines internal systems
….
INVOL (short-term flight irregularities)
In case of short-term flight cancellations and delays, the segment status may remain unchanged in the PNR (HK). The actual flight status can be checked via the respective .com website “Flight Status”. The flight status only changes after handling by the airline (OPR tool) which is done as fast as possible for OS, LH, LX, SN operated flights:

• Whenever possible passengers are rebooked to an alternate flight/flight connection. After rebooking, the segment status changes to UN, TK or UN/TK
  
  
• There is no queue message to the booking office.
  
  
• Whenever possible the tickets are automatically revalidated or reissued and associated EMDs are automatically reassociated.
  
  
• In addition, whenever possible, passengers are automatically checked-in on the new flight.

Technical restrictions exist for Travel Agents to access tickets after a reissue by the airline (OPR or manual). Travel Agents using Amadeus still have access to the ticket and may reissue again if technically possible. Travel Agents using other reservation systems must contact their Lufthansa Group Agency Support team for assistance.

Notes on using the OPR Tool for flight irregularities

As already communicated in 2018, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS use the Optimized Passenger Recovery (OPR) tool to process short-term flight cancellations. With the help of this tool, many passengers can quickly be rebooked.

The OPR tool rebooks affected passengers to an alternative flight connection, taking into account the originally booked route (origin & destination), and reissues the flight tickets and all related EMDs.

We will notify your customers if their flight changes

Passengers whose contact details are included in the PNR via the "SSR CTC" format will be automatically informed about the flight cancellations and any alternatives booked through the OPR tool. To ensure that your customers are constantly kept updated on flight irregularities, please include your customers' contact details as an "SSR CTC" element in the PNR at the time of booking.