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BA ‘will not pass on GDS booking costs to agents’ – yet
Agents who book British Airways tickets over global distribution systems after today won’t have to shoulder the cost – for the time being.
The three-year agreement BA had with the four GDS suppliers runs out at the end of today (Wednesday), but BA has not managed to agree new terms with Worldspan, Galileo, Amadeus and Sabre.
BA had warned that, unless the GDS suppliers agreed to new terms, agents would have to pay £2 per sector towards the cost of distribution as of March 1.
A BA spokesman confirmed: “Negotiations are ongoing with the four GDSs and how the trade distributes tomorrow will be the same as how it distributes today.
“Forget the 28th. It’s business as usual. While negotiations are ongoing, the way in which the trade sells tickets over GDSs will not change, and the same agreements remain in place.”
He added: “When new agreements are negotiated, we will notify the trade. In the interim, while we continue to negotiate with the GDSs, agents will notice no difference.”
When contacted by Travelmole, Guild of Travel Management Companies deputy chairman Maurice Veronique expressed relief at the news, but said he was dismayed members had not been contacted by BA with the news.
Veronique, who is chairman of travel management company Travel By Appointment, said: “We last had contact with BA a month ago and BA said it was still very much in negotiation and gave us an assurance that whatever decision was made it would give the trade adequate notice of any changes.
“We have just been sitting here waiting for some news that we can then deal with. It has been very frustrating.
“BA told Travelmole – why couldn’t they tell us? I find it incredulous that there has been no public announcement.”
But the BA spokesman said: “Why would they be informed? Once we have reached an agreement with the GDSs, we will let our travel partners know. But as we haven’t reached agreement as yet, then there is nothing to add.
“Rest assured, as soon as there is something to say, we will be informing the relevant parties.”
By Lisa James
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