Travel
agents in Canada and Europe have expressed outrage after learning they must begin
to pay next year significantly higher fees to the International Air Transport
Association. Although Geneva-based IATA said it is not raising its agency fees
and has not done so since 1992, it announced a switch to the Swiss franc as its
base currency for charges in each country rather than local currencies.
The Association of Canadian Travel Agents said Canadian
agents’ annual head office fees paid to IATA will rise 85 percent to C$213 plus
tax, effective Jan. 1, 2012, while Guild of European Business Travel Agents
legal adviser Isabelle Leroy said Indian agents face a doubling in fees. In
Europe, agents already pay their annual head office and branch fees based on a
currency conversion from Swiss francs, but also face a stiff increase because
the Swiss franc has strengthened considerably during the past year. In
addition, other fees such as those related to recording changes in ownership or
shareholding are moving for the first time to a Swiss franc conversion; fees in
local currencies will rise by 25 percent on average for European agents.
"We
are extremely disappointed with IATA's decision to increase their fees,"
said ACTA president and COO David McCaig, while GEBTA claimed the effective fee
increase comes after agency billing and settlement costs for airlines fell by
78 percent between 2001 and 2010. GEBTA also protested that IATA imposed the
fee changes without consultation, adding to its persistent accusation that IATA
acts as an insufficiently regulated cartel. "If this decision is not
reviewed, then we will have no choice other than to go to the European
Commission," said Leroy.
An IATA
spokesman said: "The basic fee has not changed. This has been a
realignment of currency bands to more accurately reflect the Swiss base
currency."