Tag Archives: IATA

According to IATA, India has topped the domestic growth chart for the 11th consecutive month with a 22.7 per cent year-on-year traffic growth in October, supported by significant growth in real consumer spending and increases in the number of airport pairs served. Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic rose 7 per cent in October compared to the year-ago period. Capacity rose 7.1 per cent and load factor dipped 0.1 percentage point to 76.9 per cent. The strong upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic has slowed in recent months, although it is too soon to determine whether this is an actual weakening or just a brief pause. On the other hand, the Asia-to-Europe market, which is highly sensitive to shock events, is continuing to recover.

IATA-accredited travel agents all over India will soon be receiving invoices from IATA for the annual additional amount of $360 towards usage of the 2-tier BSP Link Access that is being implemented effective January 1, 2017. IAAI has contended that, though it is required under IATA Res. 818g, the new BSP Link charges in India have not been listed through the agenda and neither discussed or approved nor recommended by the APJC-India as per the IATA procedures. Hence IATA’s decision to charge $30 per month is totally illegal, arbitrary and unacceptable to the Indian Travel Agents Fraternity, said Biji Eapen, National President, IAAI National Board in an official release. Eapen affirms that IAAI will go “the whole nine yards” and attempt to get a reversal on this unwarranted action by IATA. On November 15, IAAI has communicated to the IATA Regional Director at Singapore requesting to take suggested actions immediately. The Government of India authorities and Ministry are also being alerted and notified on this subject matter. IAAI has been the only Travel Trade Association that has risen to the occasion on behalf of the IATA-accredited Travel Agents in India – as in the matter of getting the Rs.20 lakhs Minimum Guarantee withdrawn in 2002, in getting the High Court of Kerala and the DGCA to issue Orders mandating Travel Agency commission, in getting IATA to invoke force majeure for the BSP payment by Tamil Nadu Travel Agents during the thunderstorm calamity in Nov/Dec 2015 and, recently, in retaining the Insurance Guarantee system actively as the only alternative to the Joint Bank Guarantee system.

India and China continued to register double-digit growth in domestic passenger demand in September 2016, according to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global passenger traffic report. The results showed that global demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) grew 7 per cent compared to the same month in 2015. This was the strongest year-over-year increase in seven months. Capacity climbed 6.6 per cent and load factor edged up 0.3 percentage points to 81.1 per cent. Growth in domestic traffic slightly outpaced growth in international traffic. Domestic passenger demand climbed 7.2 per cent in September as compared to September2015, which was up from the 4.1 per cent year-on-year growth recorded in August. International RPKs climbed 6.9 per cent with airlines in all regions recording growth compared to 2015. Total capacity climbed 7.2 per cent, causing load factor to slide 0.2percentage points to 80.4 per cent. “September’s growth in passenger demand was healthy. Importantly, this rebound from August weakness suggests that travel demand is showing its resilience in the aftermath of terror attacks. We must, of course, be ever-alert to the ongoing terror threat. And overall the industry is still vulnerable to being buffeted by rising geopolitical tensions, protectionist political agendas, and weak economic fundamentals. This will still be a good year for the airline industry’s performance, but our profitability will continue to be hard-won,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA.

IATA has sent out a circular to all BSP India agents that includes a six-page ‘Code of Conduct’ issued by Delta Air Lines this week. This information was uploaded and provided to the agents through BSPLink at the request of the airline. This includes Air France, KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines. The document contains five main points. It touches on the subject of fares, redistribution of carrier content, rules about intellectual property, customer service and consequences of non-compliance with the Agent Code of Conduct. These include: cancelling the agent’s Electronic Ticketing Authority, withdrawing authority to issue traffic documents on the carrier’s behalf, and terminating IATA Resolution 824 – Passenger Sales Agency Agreement by withdrawing carrier’s appointment of the agent. IATA has asked agents to communicate with the airline directly in case of any clarifications.

Global airlines’ body IATA has sought an abated rate of GST on flight tickets, saying the tax burden on the aviation sector was already high and the GST regime should conform to global standards and principles. Maintaining that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been ‘working closely’ with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Secretariat here to address some issues of concern to airlines, Director General of IATA, Alexandre de Juniac said, “The GST regime needs to adhere to international standards and principles.” “We have called for a zero-rating for international flights when the GST comes into effect next April. This seems unlikely. To limit its damage to the sector’s competitiveness, we would at least hope for abatement in the rate,” de Juniac said. He said the airlines in India faced “an onerous tax burden, including the imposition of service tax to services rendered abroad, including those for overflight charges, global distribution systems and international tickets.” This, he said, was “in contravention of international principles established by governments” through the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The IATA Director General and CEO, who met top officials of the government and Indian carriers during his two-day visit here, said he had shared these and other concerns with the government.

The Institute of Hotel, Cargo and Tourism Management (IHCTM), a training division of Namaste Tourism, has announced a special trade discount for those who wish to attend its ‘Managing the Travel Business’ program with diploma awarded by International Air Transport Association (IATA) Montreal, Canada. The total fees for the course including the training, examination and registration for IATA along with applicable service tax is Rs 71,300. However, the institute is offering members of the trade a 20 per cent discount on early enrolment before 26 November, 2016. This will take the total course fee to Rs 46,900. This offer is exclusive for the travel trade. Subhash Motwani, Director, IHCTM, says, “The travel industry is changing every day and the Management – level 3 IATA program can equip a tourism professional with the latest global trends of travel and tourism industry. The course will include topics such as Managerial Skills, Negotiation Skills, Special Interest Tours, MICE, Technology In Travel Industry, Financial Management & Accounting, BSP Agent, Billing Reports & Remittance and Marketing.” Classes will be held in Mumbai at Colaba and Mahim centres starting from December 5 onwards.

India’s domestic airline market has posted double-digit annual growth of 23.2 per cent in August, as reported by IATA. This comes with sizeable increase in real consumer spending and partly because airlines are adding airport-pairs and flight frequencies, which cuts journey times for passengers and has the same stimulatory effect on demand as a large cut in fares. Domestic air travel, on the whole, grew by 4.3 per cent year-on-year in August, with the three-speed market still evident. On the other hand, international traffic flown by Asia Pacific airlines, the second largest international region, rose by a solid 5.6 per cent year-on-year in August. But there are ongoing signs of Asian passengers being put off by terrorism in Europe since traffic on the Europe-Asia route grew by just 1.5 per cent year-on-year in July, and it remains the slowest growing of the ‘big-four’ international routes so far this year. Asian leisure travellers are also substituting to destinations closer to home: international traffic growth within Asia accelerated to a six month-high of 9.9 per cent year-on-year in July.

After the success of its joint initiative with TAFI recently, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has requested IATA to conduct workshops on the IBSP billing system in smaller cities as well. Jay Bhatia, Hon. National Treasurer & Chairman Tourism Council, TAAI, said, “We have requested IATA to cover smaller cities like Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, Srinagar, Jalandhar and Amritsar as well. We are confident that this too shall be soon taken up in case the agents require the same once the system is implemented around mid of October 2016.” The workshop that was conducted in metro cities from September 14 in 16 chapters across India until September 29, 2016 saw more than 1,200 IATA agents sign up. It updated them on the new reports that shall be generated and the process to understand the same. Bhatia added, “We shall have a clearer picture on the same as detailed queries will start only once it is implemented. This round of workshop included only the theory aspect.”

According to IATA, India’s domestic passenger market ranks number four with a double-digit annual growth of 26.2 per cent and PLF level of 84.5 per cent in July. This has been propelled by strong growth in real consumer spending and because airlines are adding lots of airport-pairs and frequencies, which cuts journey times for passengers and has the same effect on demand as a large cut in fares. International traffic flown by Asia Pacific airlines rose by 9.8 per cent year-on-year in July, with signs that the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic is reasserting itself. Reports suggest that Asian passengers are being put off by terrorism in Europe: traffic on the Europe-Asia route fell by 0.9 per cent year-on-year in June (latest available), and it has been the weakest-performing major route so far in 2016. It appears that Asian travellers may be substituting to destinations closer to home: international traffic growth within Asia accelerated to a four month-high of 8.1 per cent year-on-year in June.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in various areas of airport operations, including security, passenger experience, cargo, airport development, consulting and training. The MoU was signed by Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, and Hari Marar, BIAL’s President for Airport Operations, on the sidelines of an industry event in New Delhi. This MoU is the first of its kind that IATA has signed with an Indian airport. One of the highlights of the MoU could see IATA and BIAL implementing trials of new technologies and processes, and testing concepts at Bangalore International Airport. “This will place Bangalore International Airport in the forefront of airport operations. These trials will ensure that global best practice solutions can be appropriately adapted to the Indian environment, and will provide guidance for rolling out the implementation to other Indian airports,” said Clifford. The IATA Fast Travel initiative, Passenger Facilitation program and Smart Security are among the initiatives being considered as part of the MoU. “An important objective of the MoU is to promote the efficient development of civil aviation in India to meet growing demand. By 2035, India’s passenger traffic is forecast to exceed 400 million passengers, more than double that of today. The industry will support 19 million jobs and $172 billion of India’s GDP. But for this potential to become reality, India’s airports need to have the necessary infrastructure capacity while implementing efficient processes that embrace the latest technologies,” said Clifford.