Travel agents and corporate travel buyers are losing out at the hands of the world airline association IATA, says a senior industry figure.
Speaking at the Institute of Travel Management conference in Dublin, Hogg Robinson Group industry affairs director Mike Platt accused the body of acting as a cartel.
He said: “The rules on how travel management companies transact and pay for travel are controlled by IATA and most IATA rules are anti-competitive.”
Platt suggested travel management companies could save 15% of the cost of selling air travel if IATA rules changed. “IATA is a cartel and it makes decisions that cost us money,” he said.
The International Air Transport Association was set up after the Second World War and most scheduled airlines other than low-cost carriers are members. The IATA Bank Settlement Plan (BSP) handles the payments for almost all air-ticket sales through intermediaries. Now IATA plans to switch the settlement of payments from monthly to weekly, threatening the cash flow of retailers.
Platt called for the industry to take its case against IATA to the European Commission. “The EC is our only weapon,” he said.