Kingfisher Airlines agrees to pay three per cent commission on gross fare to travel agents

Kingfisher Airlines informed yesterday that it will pay three per cent agency commission to travel agents on gross fare, effective from today. The decision to pay three per cent commission was acknowledged in a fax sent to TAAI office last night. “The airline has also withdrawn Transaction Fee on tickets, which was introduced following the abolition of five per cent commission to travel agents on October 31, 2008,” stated an airline official. Current market conditions and the boycott threat by travel agents are believed to be the two main reasons for the airline agreeing to pay three per cent agency commission.

Calling it an ‘achievement of impossibility,’ Rajii Rai, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said that it is a great victory of both airlines and travel agents. “They have realised the importance of travel agents in the distribution network in India. Secondly they have understood that agents are an integral part of this business and it is a wrong time to go to zero per cent commission system.