IATA allows agents to make payment settlements later without penalties

An official statement by IATA has said that travel agents can make payment settlements later without penalties, in the wake of the global crisis of COVID-19. The statement read “For travel agents, we’re allowing settlements to be made a bit later, without penalties. While remittance periods have been kept in accordance with BSP Calendars, we are taking a flexible approach and preliminary figures confirm this, showing that default rates in 2020 are a bit below the year-ago period—despite the stresses on the system in 2020.”

In addition, recognising the fact that it may be difficult or impossible to get audited financial statements, or arrange a financial guarantee, “IATA is offering to extend deadlines for these statements by up to a month.”