Mind the flight fare gap

Foreign airlines may be wooing fliers with discount deals but their fares aren’t always fair, says the country’s civil aviation watchdog.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has written to 14 international airlines, asking them to explain why they continue to burden passengers with their agents’ commission.
“The IATA (International Air Transport Association)’s Resolution 810 (I) states that airlines will remunerate their agents. We have asked the airlines why passengers have been asked to shoulder this burden,” said a senior official of the directorate from New Delhi.
Most airlines, both domestic and foreign, had stopped paying the five per cent commission fee to travel agents last November. The Indian carriers rolled back the decision a few weeks later but foreign airlines have persisted with the zero-commission system, asking their agents to charge the passengers instead.
Agents now levy a transaction fee ranging between Rs 350 and Rs 2,500, depending on the routes and class. The difference in the price of tickets purchased through different agents often causes confusion, according to passengers.
City-based businessman Manish Sharma, who is a frequent flier to Europe and the US, said the difference in the price of a ticket ranged between five and 10 per cent. “I book my tickets through three travel agents. Last month I was scheduled to take a Lufthansa flight to the US and all three quoted different prices.”
A passenger can avoid paying the commission by booking online through an airline’s website, but he or she would need an agent’s services for multiple routes involving more than one carrier.
09/06/09 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2009