The Hindu Business Line : Travel agents, airlines commission row unresolved

THE tussle between travel agents and some leading international airlines continues, on the latter's decision to reduce the agent's commission from seven to five per cent.

A meeting between the two sides here remained "inconclusive" giving rise to fears in some quarters that passengers wanting to book tickets on some European and US airlines could face problems in the coming days. Speaking to the media after a meeting with officials of the European airlines, the President of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Mr Balbir Mayal, said they would suspend selling tickets of the German airline Lufthansa.

"If the other airlines do not listen to us then we will have to suspend selling their tickets too, in the coming few days," Mr Mayal, said.

Officials of the other travel agency bodies which were present at the meeting said that among the airlines which could be affected by the decision to suspend the sale of tickets include Air France, the Dutch airline KLM, British Airways, United Airlines, American Airline and Air Canada.

When contacted, officials of the various airlines who attended the meeting said all of them had proposed that the implementation of the decision to cut back on the agent's commission be put off till January 1 next year. The airlines also informed the travel agents that the movement to zero per cent commission would only happen by 2008.

They had earlier said that agents commissions would be scaled down to five per cent from September 1 this year.

"We have a contingency plan in place. No flight will be disturbed. We will be accessible to all the passengers," the General Manager, Lufthansa, Mr Werner Hessen, said.

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