Report by John Lavabre
ABTA has become embroiled in another feud with Ryanair as
the association named the airlines that are refusing to pay commission on
Passenger Service Charges.
The low-cost carrier is one of seven which collectively owe
agents £500,000.
Along with Ryanair, which is thought to owe £300,000, Gill
Airways, Air Namibia, CityJet and Egypt Air have also refused to pay agents.
Two others, Dutch-owned VLM and ScotAirways, have agreed to
stump up their share.
ABTA president Stephen Bath was outraged that Ryanair had
refused to pay.
“What’s so special about Ryanair?” asked Bath.
“It’s not paying up because it doesn’t want to. It thinks it’s
above the law. We have already won the case with other airlines.
“Ryanair dropped travel agent commission, it sells cheaper
flights on-line and it also banned agents from charging service fees. The airline
could not be more agent unfriendly if it tried.”
If the airlines do not pay up, they will be taken to court
to retrieve the money. In November 1999 the High Court ruled that separating PSC
from commission payments was illegal and ordered airlines to compensate agents
for lost revenue. The Court of Appeal agreed with this decision in May last
year.
Ryanair was unavailable for comment as Travel Weekly went
to press.