On February 5, Travel News carried an article entitled ‘Iata guarantees rocket by 32%’, which detailed how the minimum financial security for fortnightly Iata remittances had been revised from R250 000 to R330 000. Iata spokesperson Perry Flint, has responded.
“Iata has worked with the travel agency community and airlines throughout 2020 to support them in these challenging times, one of them being the agreement of the temporary LFC measures.
Agents were represented through the local industry councils (APJC) and the agents’ representative (Asata) has always participated in these consultative meetings.
The change in the minimum financial security requirements was the outcome of several discussions between the agency and the airlines and we understand that the increase in the amount for fortnightly remittance was an unintended consequence following a devaluation of the ZAR against the USD.
This should be viewed in the broader context of the positive outcomes of our engagements, such as the adjusted criterion for the evaluation of agents’ accounts and the agreement to review the LFC every six months.
Iata remains committed to working with all industry stakeholders, including our travel agent partners, during these extremely challenging times.”
