KLM UK is to renegotiate commissions with agents after transferring five of its existing routes over to new direct-sell carrier Buzz from early next year.
Agents will not receive commission on Buzz flights, but KLMUK sales director Peter Cornwall will be talking to them over the next month about new service fees they will be able to charge by booking flights over the telephone and Internet.
Cornwall will also be discussing new contracts with agents and retailers covering the KLM UK network.
The Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan routes are all moving to Buzz.
The new airline will also offer flights on 110-seat BAe 146 aircraft on new routes to Vienna and Lyons. Frequencies will be at least three flights a day from January/ February.
KLM UK commercial director Tony Camacho said sales targets will be adjusted to ensure agents do not lose out from the switch to Buzz.
Camacho said KLM UKwill be meeting agents to assure them they will not lose out through the launch of Buzz.
He said business travel agents were more likely to book Buzz than high-street retailers. “We do not expect consumers to walk into retail agencies and purchase the product and pay a fee.
“But with business travel, corporates will be happy to pay intermediaries.”
Buzz expects to fill around 40% of its capacity with business passengers.
Travel on Buzz will be ticketless. Passengers will have a booking reference number which they will use to collect boarding passes. Buzz fares will be similar to Stansted rivals Go and Ryanair in a standard and flexible ticketing structure. Camacho said it is also working on a corporate fare programme.
Amsterdam has been omitted from Buzz’s network as KLM UK will still feed UK flights into KLM’s hub from Stansted and other UK airports.
From early next year, KLM UK will only serve the Dutch capital, Brussels, Glasgow and Edinburgh from Stansted.
Camacho said additional Buzz routes will be launched as the fleet grows. He said KLM intends to use larger aircraft, probably 150-seater Boeing 737s, for Buzz services in the future.
The carrier is investing £7.5m on launching the subsidiary.