The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) says it is opposing the changes that some airlines have announced in relation to reducing fee structure.
AFTA says these changes, which predominantly relate to airline commissions, will have a detrimental impact on choices for Australian consumers.
Given the complexity of travel to and from Australia, AFTA members continue to have a critical role in supporting travelling Australians.
Travel agents encourage competition between suppliers to which consumers benefit, accessing world-leading support at competitive prices.
“Our members are voicing concerns about recent goings-on and are strenuously opposed to changes that some airlines seem to be contemplating that are geared towards forcing agency customers to pay more for international flights,” said AFTA CEO Dean Long.
“This will have widespread adverse impacts on the travelling public, given that agents sell some 60% of the airfares sold in Australia.”
AFTA is not involved in the commission negotiations between its members and the individual airlines.
However, it says it is concerned about the impact of commission cuts on overall margin and suggestions that agency groups introduce new fees to offset any loss.
Members typically negotiate three sources of payment with airlines and suppliers – front-end commission, net fares and back-end overrides, which are sometimes based on volume.
This structure ensures Australian consumers can be supported.
AFTA says the suppliers that reduce the distribution fees are directly reducing the support available for Australian consumers at a time where this support is critical to restarting the domestic and international travel sector.
This also comes after the agency sector provided unprecedented support for airlines and travellers in general in the most challenging of conditions during the pandemic.
The news follows an announcement from Emirates that the airline will be the latest carrier to slash travel advisor commissions from 1 July 2022, citing a changing trading environment due to the pandemic as the deciding factor.
Earlier this year Qantas also informed its travel agency partners of major upcoming changes to its commission structure for international flights, which will switch over from July 2022.