Air France, KLM Plan Domestic Travelport Surcharge

Air France and KLM plan to impose a €4.50 surcharge for segments booked through the Travelport global distribution system in the carriers' home markets.

A Travelport spokesperson said it would "temporarily" shield its subscribers from the surcharge when it goes into effect on June 1 in France and mid-July in the Netherlands. In the meantime, the Travelport GDS—which operates the Galileo and Worldspan distribution systems—said it would continue to work toward a new contract with Air France-KLM.

"We've committed to absorbing while we're still in discussions with them, because those discussion are still ongoing," a Travelport spokesperson said. "We're still endeavoring to reach a positive conclusion to these talks."

As for the per-segment fee, Travelport said, "There has been no suggestion at this point that it will be extended outside of the home markets."

The move calls to mind a similar surcharge Lufthansa initiated last year in dominant markets—a €4.90 per-way surcharge plus value-added tax on fares booked through the Amadeus GDS. After months of absorbing the surcharge on behalf of its customers, Amadeus on Feb. 1 began passing on the charge to clients.

A Travelport spokesperson said several contracts are at issue since Air France and KLM hold separate deals with Travelport GDS properties Galileo and Worldspan.