SOUTH African agents bypassing
British Airway’s geographic pointof-sale
(POS) restrictions in order
to access cheaper fares for their clients
face being suspended from issuing BA
tickets from November 23 onwards.
Members of the local travel trade
have complained that origin and
destination pricing strategies are
affecting booking patterns and putting
them at a competitive disadvantage
as travellers have access to cheaper
fares through international OTAs (TNW
September 10). As a result, some
agents have found loopholes to get
around POS restrictions, for example by
establishing commercial arrangements
with overseas agencies.
BA regulations state that, without
BA’s prior written approval: (i) Agents
operating under an Iata number
established in the European Economic
Area (EEA) may not sell products
and services the access of which is
restricted to agents and/or customers
outside the EEA; and (ii) agents
operating under an Iata number
established in a country outside the
EEA may not sell products and services
whose access is restricted to agents
and/or customers outside that country.
Sue Botes, BA’s commercial manager
for Southern Africa, says the airline’s
trade partners are expected to access
appropriate inventory and selling
systems pertaining to their own point
of sale. “We are establishing robust
procedures in response to the unfair
playing field being created by some SA
agents trying to game the system and,
in so doing, protect our South African
agents from revenue leakage and loss
of business, which is detrimental to all
concerned.
“We are in constructive dialogue with
all parties concerned to find
the best way forward; that’s
the way we’d prefer to resolve
this.”
Andy Hedley, Travelstart’s
head of technical business,
says the discrepancies in
fares brought about by POS
strategies are considerable.
He says European travel
agents often have access to
fares that are between
R2 000 and R3 000 cheaper
than fares available to SA
agents for the same route.
Andy says some airlines
have accommodated the
local trade by changing
their strategy to point-ofcommencement,
which
means that the same route
is available at the same
fare for anyone in the world.
Other airlines that continue to
operate on the POS principle,
turn a blind eye to agencies
working around the system.
“But not BA,” says Andy,
adding that BA has warned
Travelstart not to bypass
the POS, or risk having their
ticketing plates revoked. “We’ll
see what we can do. We are
not going to lose our plates.
We need to back down for
now, but in the long run … I
don’t know what will happen.”
Travelstart is considering
legal action to challenge
BA’s regulations, Andy says.
He says the agency’s legal
department is investigating
whether BA’s strategy
contravenes the Competition
Commission’s rules. He adds
that when Virgin Atlantic
pulls out of Cape Town this
year, BA will be the only
carrier operating the route
and will charge South African
passengers considerably more
than European passengers.
“The regulations are
nonsensical on many levels,”
agrees Wally Gaynor, md of
Club Travel. He says BA’s rules
don’t apply to US agents,
which means the US-based
Expedia can now sell online
in SA with better availability
than SA agents. “That is anticompetitive;
it puts SA agents’
livelihood at risk and opens
BA to a whole host of legal
challenges.”
Wally says if an SA agent
goes online to an overseas
partner agent, makes a
booking with that agent who
then tickets, they are not
breaking any rules. “If BA says
otherwise, they are opening
themselves up to a legal
challenge.”
