Lufthansa has become one of the first airlines to comply with new regulations regarding premium rate phone tariffs.
The carrier has changed its 0871 UK premium numbers to the standard rate 0371 in line with the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulation.
The new rules were approved by the government last year and are now being implemented. They mean that no company, including airlines, can charge premium rates for calls that are part of the booking or customer service process. Companies have to be shown to be making changes by mid-June.
A Lufthansa spokeswoman said: "Numbers beginning 0871 typically cost 11-15p a minute from a land line and more for mobile users. With the new numbers, calls will cost no more than 9p a minute but they are classed the same as geographical numbers, so they are included free in many call packages."
The changes affect the airline reservation, Miles&More, web support and baggage services.
Christian Schindler, Lufthansa's UK General Manager, added: "We have tried to make the change as simple as possible by only altering the first two digits of each."
The new telephone numbers are:
General Reservations 0371 945 9747 (replacing 0871 945 9747)
Miles&More 0371 945 9737 (replacing 0871 945 9737)
Web Support Line 0371 945 9320 (replacing 0871 945 9320)
Baggage Line 0371 945 9124 (replacing 0871 945 9124)
Gary Noakes
