International Airlines Group

IAG Removes Surcharge For Expedia, Egencia

British Airways and Iberia agreed to remove their global distribution system surcharge for users of Expedia and clients of its Egencia corporate travel arm, according to an Egencia spokesperson. “As part of a wider Expedia/Egencia agreement reached by Expedia Inc. and IAG (BA and Iberia), travelers booking from EMEA and Asia Pacific have been surcharge-free…

Sabre CEO Menke Explains The Private Channel

Sabre CEO Sean Menke confirmed what many suspected. The IAG private channel option for travel agencies caught up in reworked economics between airlines and GDSs is about foregoing GDS incentives. Parent of British Airways and Iberia, IAG created “two buckets for the agency community,” Menke explained during the Wednesday Bernstein Technology Summit. He called them the “haves…

Sabre Accepts IAG Private Channel; Air France-KLM Announces Surcharge

Sabre reached a deal with International Airlines Group to give agency users a “path to unique content if they enter a Private Channel agreement” with IAG airlines. That presumably would waive the carriers’ surcharge on bookings through global distribution systems. A Sabre spokesperson informed reporters of the development Friday morning. That was hours after Air France-KLM…

Travelport Expects ‘Large Majority’ Of Its BA/Iberia Bookings To Use ‘Private Channel’

Travelport expects most bookings on British Airways and Ibera to be subject to the carriers’ new private channel option. That implies lower GDS incentive income for travel management companies. Travelport president and CEO Gordon Wilson on Thursday morning told investors that while negotiations were ongoing, “We think a large majority of our business with International Airlines Group…

CWT Statements On Deal Avoiding IAG Surcharge Make Little Mention Of NDC

Carlson Wagonlit Travel joined rivals Amex GBT and HRG in creating a deal to avoid the IAG carriers’ GDS surcharge. CWT would use “participating GDSs.” It did not name the lone participating GDS, Amadeus, in its press statement. CWT said very little about the New Distribution Capability, posting the following in a client Q&A: “What agreement is…

On NDC’s Seemingly Contrived Inclusion In The Latest Airline Distribution Announcements

The new, Amadeus-endorsed model for airline distribution with International Airlines Group may or may not take hold among more travel management companies or even other GDSs. For now, it’s constructive to review the role of IATA’s New Distribution Capability. When IAG announced a GDS surcharge in May, NDC was the industry’s ticket to fee-free British…

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