The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has raised concerns with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) around the extension of the Emirates and Qantas relationship along with Qantas authorisations with China Eastern Airlines and Jetstar.
AFTA is concerned the authorisations may have a negative impact on travel advisors and consumers, and questions whether the extended agreements will do anything to bring down currently high airfares.
With three submissions lodged, AFTA urged the ACCC to consider the importance of ensuring all fare types and schedules were available to agents through all distribution systems and not just the New Distribution Capability (NDC) or other exclusive channels.
It also warns against airlines sharing information about agency commissions or other commercial deals as there is no benefit to the consumer.
Additionally, the federation says carriers should not restrict agent access to the refund process for customers as happened during the pandemic.
Perhaps most crucially, AFTA says that any ACCC approvals must ultimately lead to growth in air capacity and not price increases.
It also urges that airlines be required to report regularly on the impact of changes on pricing and scheduling.
Concerns, not objections … yet
“As I have promised you since becoming the CEO of AFTA, transparency in all our processes is of enormous importance, and on these issues it is critical,” AFTA CEO Dean Long said in an alert sent to AFTA members about the ACCC submissions.
“At this point in time, AFTA has neither supported nor objected to the re-authorisations.
“We have, however, identified several areas that we believe need further clarification to justify the exemption to the law which we as ATAS businesses must adhere to.”
Long encourages members to read the full ACCC submissions on the AFTA website.
“AFTA is consistently monitoring the operating environment to identify and represent the interests of our members and your customers,” he added in the memo.
“This work doesn’t always have its own member alert or receive the attention our submissions today have generated, but it is one of the reasons we exist. Your continued membership of AFTA ensures this important work continues.”
Long says the submissions will be discussed further at the next AFTA member webinar.
Last week, AFTA announced it would kick off its 2023 calendar with a one-day Women in Travel Summit at Swissôtel Sydney in March to celebrate representation and inclusion as well as shape the future of the travel industry.
Also in January, the Travel Industry Hub’s Richard Taylor joined AFTA in a newly created role as Director of Membership Experience.