Travel agents to continue Airblue’s boycott

[LRE]

Travel agents to continue Airblue’s boycott

By Muhammad Yasir

KARACHI: Travel agents across the country have stopped selling tickets for private airline Airblue, and will continue to do so until the airline pays agents commissions.

Travel agents have said that Airblue had raised both the rate of its principal fares the amount of fuel surcharge tax to be paid, directly reducing their commission.

They added that they previously used to earn seven to nine percent commission on basic fares but owing to the change in prices, this fee would be reduced to only a few hundred rupees. Travel Agents Association of Pakistan Chairman (TAAP) Naeem Sharif said that Airblue’s recent decision targeted travel agents and would not benefit customers in any way, which had prompted the boycott.

Sharif added the decision went against the rules of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and CAA.

Airblue Managing Director Nasir Ali told Daily Times that the management had reduced travel agent commission by two to three percent, from a maximum level of 10 percent, to absorb the impact of high fuel prices. He said the phenomenal rise in jet fuel prices plunged airlines into financial crisis, and therefore they have asked travel agents to share the burden rather than passing it on to the passengers.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg7_52