British Airways (BA) and sister airline Iberia will charge £8 per fare component for bookings that are not made via one of five channels. The five channels are:
• New Distribution Capability (NDC) direct connection
• NDC via an IT service provider or aggregator
• Self-booking tools connected to BA or IB via NDC
• The IAG Booking Portal (to be available shortly)
• Other travel intermediaries, including GDSs that adopt NDC based connections in the future
The fee will be collected automatically via a ‘Q’ charge on ticketing. Travelport, which owns Galileo and Worldspan, called the charge "the equivalent of a travel agency APD".
It will be visible as a distinct item within the fare quote and will apply to all BA and Iberia sales, regardless of class of travel.
IAG’s other carriers, Aer Lingus and Vueling, will continue with their existing models, but the charge will apply to Iberia and British Airways marketed fares operated by Aer Lingus, Iberia Express, LEVEL, BA CityFlyer and OpenSkies.
The other exceptions are BA Group Fares, Iata Fully Flex Fares, infants without a seat and BA short-haul add-on fares.
Some countries (including China and Brazil) may be exempt from the charge and these will be confirmed shortly.
BA is following Lufthansa in introducing charges for bookings made outside its own channel.
It is attempting to cut GDS costs and to push sales through its NDC tools. Airlines argue that NDC offers access to more content and means easier ancillary purchases, but opponents say it makes price comparisons far more difficult and stifles competition.
In September 2015, Lufthansa Group introduced a €16 charge per GDS booking on every first ticket bought on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
BA’s announcement drew immediate reaction from GDSs. Travelport said agents and consumers would be penalized “both through this surcharge and the potential introduction of less efficient working practices”.
It said it remained “fully engaged with British Airways and Iberia” to find ways to work together and would update the agency community “in due course”.
Amadeus claimed that indirect distribution “remains the most cost-efficient solution for all parties on a global scale”.
It said: “We do not think that a surcharge is in the best interests of travellers,” adding: “We continue to be engaged with IAG to find a sustainable, long-term agreement that suits all parties.”
