Air India agreed to the proposal from Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI), after a recent meeting, that Air India must remunerate all IATA agencies irrespective of their size, for the sale of all domestic and international routes.
“Our emphasis was to connect Air India with more IATA agencies in India and have them ticket directly. What’s the point that our national carrier is not actively sold directly by a large percentage of IATA agencies in India,” said Sunil Kumar, president, TAAI.
Currently most agencies are compelled to pick up tickets from an intermediary and not an airline and the current initiative by Air India is considered significant to change this trend.
“This decision by Air India is reflective of the National Airline’s prominence in India, which is so important for every Airline in its own country. The additional two per cent to every IATA agency without any target is an excellent move to offer Air India, the market leadership in India. In most countries of the world, the national carrier has a huge prominence and there’s great loyalty exhibited from the travel agencies and passengers. This move can be a game-changer and offer to Air India an opportunity to win over the market. We appreciate and acknowledge this initiative from Air India and thank them to have considered this proposal from TAAI,” added Kumar.
