The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Airlines travel agents stir today

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Thursday, Aug 14, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Airlines travel agents stir today

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Authorised IATA travel agents will observe a one-day strike on Thursday, protesting against the decision of airlines to scrap agent’s commission of 5 per cent.

Talking to reporters, C.K. Ashok, chairman, southern region, Travel Agents Association of India, said the unilateral decision of the airlines to scrap the agency commission would deprive the total earnings of those in the trade. The very survival of the agents would be at stake.

During 2001, the airlines reduced the agency commission from 9 per cent to 7 per cent, promising that when the situation improved it would be restored back to 9 per cent. In 2005, the commission was reduced to 5 per cent.

In the country there were nearly 2,000 agents and in Chennai city alone there were 210 agencies registered under IATA. All the agents would suspend their operations for a day and they would not issue tickets.

From April 2007 to March 2008, the agents sold tickets to the tune of Rs. 26,000 crore, of which Rs. 7,000 crore was through sale of tickets in the domestic sector, he said.

Three major Associations – Travel Agents Association of India, Travel Agents Federation of India represented by A. Basheer Ahmed, chairman, and IATA Agents Association of India represented by its chairman T.K.Gopakumar — said they would participate in the strike.

The associations demanded the postponement of implementation of zero per cent commission from October this year to May next year.

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