Jet agrees to pay 3 percent commission to travel agents
December 8th, 2008 - 6:18 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) Jet Airways has agreed to pay 3 percent of airfare to travel agents as commission, and Kingfisher Airlines too is expected to sign a similar deal this week. “We signed a deal with Jet Airways last (Sunday) night, and we will be paid 3 percent commission on air tickets that we book,” Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) president Rajender Rai told IANS Monday.
“We have also been assured by Kingfisher Airlines that things will be sorted out and we hope to sign a deal with them in next two-three days when (company chairman) Dr. Vijay Mallya returns from London,” Rai added.
Following this, travel agents across the country Monday resumed selling tickets of both Jet and Kingfisher.
However, Rai said he was sceptical of Air India following suit.
“It was Air India which first abolished agents’ commission on air tickets, which was 5 percent, and also forced other airlines to do so. But now when we have been able to convince the two major private airlines, we are very sceptical about Air India,” he added.
The state-owned Air India is India’s largest carrier, both in terms of revenues and fleet size.
Representatives of travel agents are now expected to meet Air India officials later this week to discuss the commission issue.
A spokesperson for Air India said a decision would be taken only after the meeting, even while refusing to share other details.
The civil aviation ministry had Dec 3 assured travel agents associations that it would take up their demand for restoration of the 5 percent agents commission that the various airlines had scrapped last month.
The travel agents’ representatives met Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar to discuss the ongoing impasse between the agents and the airlines over scrapping of the commission fee.
Six major organisations of agents Dec 1 decided to stop selling tickets of India’s leading private airline Jet Airways and its sister carrier JetLite. About 85 percent of airline bookings in India are done through travel agents, including online agencies.
- Jet agrees to pay 3 percent commission to travel agents (Lead) - Dec 08, 2008
- Government to meet airlines over agents' commission issue - Dec 03, 2008
- New system to ensure smoother travel planning launched - Sep 08, 2010
- Kingfisher's market share falls to fifth place in November - Dec 22, 2011
- Foreign airlines asked to review 'zero commission' to agents - Mar 12, 2010
- IATA suspends Kingfisher from two more inter-airline transaction systems (Lead) - Mar 09, 2012
- Travel agents won't sell Jet tickets, want commission system back - Dec 01, 2008
- Jet's international operations up 21.8 percent in August - Sep 17, 2010
- Kingfisher tops in unused flight slots, says Ravi - Nov 30, 2011
- Air India cancelled 2,753 flights in the first six months: Ravi - Aug 10, 2011
- Jet Airways offers Women's Day discounts - Mar 02, 2012
- Kingfisher Airlines makes alternate booking arrangements - Mar 09, 2012
- PM to meet airline chiefs Saturday (Lead) - Nov 25, 2011
- Jet Airways No.1 domestic airline for sixth straight month - Apr 15, 2010
- Kingfisher to join oneworld airline alliance from February - Dec 19, 2011
Tags: air india, civil aviation ministry, dr vijay mallya, fleet size, jet airways, kingfisher airlines, madhavan, private airline, private airlines, taai
