Who is popular today?

Datalex said on Wednesday that Lufthansa has been ordered by an international arbitration court to pay the Irish travel retail software provider €823,000, plus interest and some expenses, for services provided to the German airline group prior to the implosion of their working relationship two years ago.
The award is a minor victory for Datalex as the two parties remain locked in a multimillion euro battle, in cases of lawsuit and countersuit before the regional court of Frankfurt.
Shares in the company were up 1.5 per cent at 69 cent in early trading in Dublin.
Lufthansa decided in September 2019 to terminate a major contract for Datalex to overhaul its digital commerce offering after the project, originally agreed in 2016, had gone over budget and missed key deadlines.
Legal proceedings
Datalex commenced legal proceedings against Lufthansa in the regional court of Frankfurt court shortly after the contract was pulled.
The Irish company’s annual report for 2020 showed that it had invoiced balances due from the German carrier and its Swiss International Airlines unit of $2.9 million (€2.5 million). Datalex had also notified Lufthansa of its intention to claim more money by way of damages.
Datalex separately moved in March 2020 to issue a notice of dispute and invoke a contractual arbitration clause to recover amounts owed to it by Lufthansa’s Swiss International Airlines. The international court of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has now ruled that Lufthansa must play Datalex €823,000, plus interest, and bear its own legal costs as well as reimbursing the Irish company a portion of its costs associated with the case.
“Datalex will continue in pursuit of its other claims against Lufthansa,” the company said, referring to the Frankfurt court case, covering amounts Datalex claims it is owned, plus general business damages.
Countersuing
Lufthansa countersued the Datalex for at least €9.7 million in June, with the development coming just before the Irish company held an extraordinary general meeting to rubber-stamp the terms of a €25 million share sale to shore up the company’s finances.
Lufthansa is claiming damages and is requesting a declaratory judgement for potential further damages.
Datalex’s irregular accounting of revenues from the contract triggered a financial scandal at the Dublin-listed group in January 2019, precipitating an overhaul of the company’s board and management, cost-cutting and the need for emergency loans from its main shareholder, Dermot Desmond, to keep the business afloat.