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WTAAA to take tough stance on GDS segment fee

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

World Travel Agents Associations Alliance's (WTAAA) annual meet in Orlando saw the heads of apex agent associations across leading countries take a tough stance on recent moves by international airlines to bill travel agents booking on certain GDSs (in case of the US, Amadeus) for a segment fee.

This move by some airlines is being viewed as an attempt to trim costs of segments on GDS. The apex confluence of national associations which includes heavyweights of the likes of Canada, US, Australia, South Africa and most European countries mooted the decision to resist such decisions, even with legal recourse if needed. Lufthansa International Airlines has in fact imposed similar segment fees on all agent bookings made on the Galileo systems from October 1 (at the time of going to print) although Galileo International is currently engaged in dialogue with Europe's largest airline.

Other matters relevant to India discussed at the annual closed-door affair included the strategy to move to a service fee concept without letting go of airline commissions. The two issues, according to Ajay Prakash, general secretary, TAFI, who represented the association at the meeting, were separate and needed to be looked at in isolation. There was urgency to audit the agent's business to ascertain the specific cost of rendering each service, he said.

EU countries are evolving more common and stringent guidelines for visa issuance which could create the prospect of finger printing for passengers seeking Schengen visas. They have invited travel agent associations from the world over to provide inputs about the implications. A proposal by National Standards Association of Spain to have ISO certifications for travel agents could create a complicated and unfeasible situation to have standard operation practices for travel agents worldwide.