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BA’s plan for GDS fee ‘will cause all sorts of problems’
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
Leading industry players condemned British Airways’ decision to impose a fee on global distribution system (GDS) bookings from November.
GDS owner Travelport said
it would “penalise customers”. The Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) said travellers would not “willingly accept it”. And American Express Global Business Travel warned the GDS fee would increase costs and “fragment content”. BA and sister IAG carrier Iberia, announced the introduction of an £8 (€9.50 or $10) booking fee on all GDS sales on Friday. The charge will apply from November 1. BA declined to comment ahead of consulting the trade, but the carrier was immediately engulfed in an IT meltdown, leading many agency and travel management company (TMC) staff to work all weekend rebooking BA passengers. Advantage Travel Partnerships head of Focus (corporate travel) operations Steve Murray said: “There is a lot of kickback on the
BA is to impose an £8 fee on GDS bookings
charge. It will cause all sorts of problems. It’s not just about cost.” The BA move follows rival Lufthansa which imposed a €16 (£11.20) fee on GDS bookings in 2015. IAG partner American Airlines is expected to follow suit. Ken McLeod, director of industry
affairs at Advantage, said: “It’s the start of a slippery slope. I don’t think anybody knows where this will end – not BA, not the GDSs, not the TMCs, not customers.” Travelport accused BA and Iberia of “seeking to penalise consumers who enjoy the benefits of choice, efficiency and value through the travel agency medium”. However, Travelport said: “We remain fully engaged with BA to work to connect with travel agencies and travellers.” A spokesman for American
Express Global Business Travel said: “We don’t support any initiative that increases costs to our customers.” GTMC chief executive Paul Wait
called for “robust evidence from BA” to prove its claim that GDS distribution is more expensive and said: “Feedback we’ve had suggests this is not a charge corporate travellers will willingly accept.”
Amie Keeley
amie.keeley@
travelweekly.co.uk
A fundraising appeal to help the family of 17-year-old travel agent apprentice Chloe Rutherford who was killed in the Manchester terror attack has raised more than £1,000.
A Just Giving page was set up by Manchester agents Ken Garrity, of Ken Garrity Travel, and Jill Waite, of Pole Travel, after Chloe and her boyfriend, Liam Curry, 19, were named among the 22 victims of last week’s suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. Chloe was an apprentice at
Westoe Travel in South Shields and was due to start full-time in June. Owner Graeme Brett said the agency had received more than 100 messages of support as well as flowers from people in the industry from all over the world. On Friday hundreds of people
gathered along the seafront in South Shields to release balloons in memory of Chloe and Liam. Brett said Chloe was “part of
the family”, adding: “She was very happy and always smiling, giving
3 STORIES HOT People release balloons
in memory of Manchester attack victims Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry in South Shields
Appeal for Chloe fund targets £10k
everyone else a warm feeling. No task was too much to ask. She was very mature for her age and took to it [being an agent] straight away.” Chloe joined the agency in January and worked two days a week in between her college days. Newell’s Travel agent Natalie Hurst was at the concert with her two daughters, Beatrix, 12, and Emily, 15, but escaped unharmed. “We heard an almighty bang and
everyone went silent. We were at the front near the stage and the bomb went off at the back. “We ran out and got separated,
but we were very lucky.” Brett said music was one of
Chloe’s passions and he is hoping a local talent show, which the agency sponsors every summer, will this
year be held in her honour. ● The fundraising appeal has set a
target of £10,000. To donate, go to
justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ chloewesthoetravel. Alternatively, members of the travel industry can supply a prize for a raffle due to take place in the next six to eight weeks. Any agency, operator or travel sector employee wishing to donate or sell raffle
tickets should email Brett at
sales@westoetravel.co.uk
1 June 2017
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