| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 24/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 5 |
| Copyright: Other |
Agents face disruption when GDSsupplier ends agreement with airline on July 31
Retailers urge Ryanair rethink on Galileo ban
Report by TANYAJEFFERIES
TRAVEL agents have appealed to Ryanair and Galileo to sort out an on-going feud that has led to the airline refusing to deal with the global distribution systemssupplier.Ryanair claims it has been forced to cut its ties with Galileo, the UK’s leading GDS, because the firm’s fees are exorbitant (Travel Weekly, May 22). It will officially stop selling tickets through Galileo on July 31.
Agents using Galileo who still wish to carry on booking with Ryanair will have to sign agreements with rival GDS suppliers Sabre, Worldspan or Amadeus, or make non-commissionable bookings over the Internet as Ryanair does not take agents’ bookings over the telephone.
Guild of Business Travel Agents chairman Don Lunn, who is also chairman of the Galileo Users’ Association, has written to Ryanair asking it to reconsider.
Lunn’s efforts have been backed by Walsh International director John Walsh. He will be unable to make Ryanair bookings once it pulls out of Galileo. “It is not for the love of Ryanair but for the convenience of our valued customers,” he said.
However, Ryanair sales and marketing director Tim Jeans said he regretted that agents would be subject to some disruption but he blamed this on Galileo, which plans to remove its servicing terminals from all Ryanair offices next week.
A Galileo spokesman said: “Theinconvenience agents will suffer after Ryanair’s withdrawal can be eliminated by Ryanair reversing that decision and staying with us.”
n Ryanair is suspending its daily service between Stansted and Nimes in August due to essential maintenance being carried out on the main runway at Nimes.
Meanwhile, the airline has added a fourth daily flight from Stansted to Shannon between August 4 and 24.
Jeans: regrets that Ryanair’s decision to drop Galileo may inconvenience agents but places the blame squarely on the GDS supplier