Travel management companies in France have criticised Air France-KLM over its forthcoming GDS surcharge for business travel agencies, to be introduced on 1 April 2023, with some even hurling threats at the French carrier.
The fee, currently €13 per GDS-booked segment, already applies to leisure travel agencies and was introduced in a bid to drive NDC adoption.
It was intended to be expanded to travel management companies last spring, but was postponed to April 2023 after TMCs expressed concerns about the readiness of the airlines' NDC programme and the ability to manage reservations post-booking.
Such concerns have now escalated with Grégory Mavoian, president of the Manor TMC network – which has 74 members with 320 branches across France – threatening to add its own surcharge to account for lost productivity and added financial strain.
In a statement issued last week Mavoian said the charges imposed by the carriers will “inevitably” be felt by clients and will prove damaging for the TMC network, whose agencies carry out 40 per cent of their air transactions with Air France.
“The Manor network will reciprocally apply, from 31 March, a producer surcharge integrated into the price of the ticket covering the loss of productivity, the services unpaid or poorly paid to date, and the banning of card payments made to agencies,” he said.
“Either we find together a new model that benefits everyone, or we will take the necessary measures,” he warned.
The network, in the statement, said its ultimate goal is to “avoid consequences for clients” and stressed the “imperative” to reach an agreement.
Laurent Abitbol, chairman of French travel agency group Marietton Développement – whose brands include TMCs Ailleurs Business and Havas Voyages – also expressed his discontent with the flag carrier during the recent Selectour congress, where he told delegates NDC bookings “deteriorate productivity”, according to a report by Déplacements Pros.
If the surcharge is implemented Abitbol said he will circumvent the NDC deal between Amadeus and Air France by using tools such as WonderMiles.
Abitbol had previously told L'Echo Touristique that booking an Air France ticket via NDC takes two-and-a-half minutes compared to 30 seconds via classic access to Amadeus.