Ref: IL09-143/94161
By E-mail
M. Akis KELEPESHIS, President
The Members
The Members of the Legal Committee
The Members of the Air Matters Committee
GEBTA
Brussels, 20 May 2009
Dear Members,
Re:
Publication of the new Travel Agent’s Handbook and BSP Manual
The new editions of the Travel Agent’s Handbook in English, French and Spanish and of the BSP
Manual in English are available for download on IATA’s website at:
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/travel-tourism/tah.htm (Resolution 818 for EU/EEA/Switzerland;
Resolution 814 for Croatia and Turkey)
1) Travel Agent’s Handbook
It contains the local financial criteria and the Resolutions as applicable from 1 June 2009,
including:
-
the amendments introduced by the 2007 Special PAConf, in force since 1 March 2008;
-
the amendments introduced by PAConf/31, both those with expedited implementation since
1 January 2009 and those effective from 1 June 2009;
-
the amendments introduced by PAConf mail votes since 1 January 2008 (notably PAConf
mail votes A146 and A155 affecting Europe).
Compared to the previous editions of the Travel Agent’s Handbook, the new edition no longer
contains the information sections with no binding value. Those sections will instead be posted on
the IATA website (from 1 June 2009).
The main changes in the new Travel Agent’s Handbook are as follows:
‚
Revised financial criteria for Bulgaria; Germany, Finland (applicable since 1 January 2009)
and for Scandinavia.
‚
New Resolution 800o to accredit on-line agents (applicable since 1 January 2009 except in
Africa where it will be delayed until 1 January 2010): The possibility to obtain IATA
accreditation has been expanded to purely on-line activities in a given country, notably in view
of ticket fulfilment in a country and reporting made to the applicable BSP of the country where
the sale was made. The initial requirement to benefit of this status is to have a physical Head
Office registered in a country where the IATA Programme applies. The agent will be required to
demonstrate that it complies with all legal requirements to operate travel agency services in the
markets where it operates. Such accreditation includes no criteria on premises and security.
However the on-line location will need to comply with the local financial criteria. The applicant
1
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21
E-mail : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
will in addition have to furnish financial surety to satisfy IATA and BSP airlines that remittance
will be secured.
‚
Resolution 814 on sales agency rules (for Croatia and Turkey):
Removal of provisions on cash basis: Following the removal in 2007 of all provisions on
cash basis from Resolution 814 by mean of the enabling Resolution 800e, each reference to
cash basis has been removed from Resolution 814.
‚
Resolution 818 on sales agency Rules for Europe:
o
Application to Moldova;
o
Management of IATA meetings and minutes: global standard for the management of
IATA meetings, including APJC. The standard is supposed to override any previously
agreed process for approval of the minutes. The new wording in Resolution 818 Section
1, Paragraph 3 provides for the minutes of meeting being compiled by the IATA Secretary
and presented to the Chairman for approval. Thereafter members of the meeting can
submit comments for approval at the following meeting.
Note of the Secretariat: IATA clarified in the PAPGJC that the Chairman provides only a
preliminary approval and that the final approval is granted at the following meeting.
o
Custody and issue of traffic documents: adoption of updates in regard of the e-ticket
environment. The provisions previsously indicating that agents issue STDs on behalf of
airlines that placed CIPs with those agents, have been removed on the assumption that
they are obsolete.
Note of the Secretariat: The principle that agents sell on behalf of airlines remains in the
PSAA (Resolution 824) which is the basis of the Programme.
o
Revised security requirements (Section 5):
In regard of the end of neutral paper tickets, PAConf has “simplified” the security
requirements as follows:
-
Agents will have a general obligation to take all reasonable precautions to prevent
access to their premises or systems;
-
The current provisions on security requirements for electronic ticketing locations will
be removed;
-
All manual accountable traffic documents and carrier plates will still need to be kept
in a lockable steel cabinet or a safe;
-
The current provision on inspections of premises will be removed;
-
In case the agent’s premises suffer any unlawful entry, the Agent will still have to
notify IATA and the police and will still be subject to a review;
-
If the agent fails to fulfil the security requirements, it will still be subject to review by
the Travel Agency Commissioner.
Despite the opposition of agents representatives in the PAPGJC, § 5.3 provides that
agents will assume full and absolute liability for any damage caused to an airline in case
of loss, theft of forgery of “standard traffic documents”.
Note of the Secretariat: this new provision is in conflict with § 15.1 which provides a
waiver of liability to agents if they complied with the minimum security standards.
o
Removal of references to STPs: the provisions enabling agents to enter into an
agreement to transport standard tickets to another country and to issue them as if in the
country where the tickets are allocated (previously § 4.1.1(a) and § 4.1.1(a)(i)), have also
removed.
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
2
o
Removal of references to “automated ticketing” and “electronic ticketing
locations” since all locations are now e-ticket only.
o
Revised rules on arbitration to review Travel Agency Commissioner decisions
(section 12) :
The previous provisions on conduct of proceedings have been replaced by a general
reference to the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Arbitration becomes a de novo review.
At the request of agents, the place of arbitration shall be in the country of the concerned
agent’s location, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. It is only if local law does not
allow the arbitration award to be final and binding on the parties that the place of
arbitration shall be Geneva in Area 2 (Montreal, Quebec or Miami in Area 1 and Sydney
or Singapore in Area 3).
o
Remittance date: Attachment A § 1.6.2.1(d) effective since 1 March 2008: introduction of
the possibility for PAConf to establish in a specific market a remittance date different from
the standard date when remittance frequency is greater than twice monthly.
o
Dispute of ADMs: Resolution 818 Attachment A § 1.7.12 : introduction of a provision
making a cross reference to the provisions on ADMs in Resolution 850m
o
Compliance with Card Sales Rules (amendment effective since 20 June 2008)
Resolution 818 Attachment A § 1.10.5 (a), which prevents the application of default action
or other sanctions when an amount is in dispute between an agent and an airline, cannot
be applied where an agent is known to circumvent the rules for acceptance of credit cards
for non-face-to-face transactions (also new § 1.7.11.1 and § 1.7.11.4).
o
‚
‚
Management by BSP of disputed amounts: the rules on withdrawal of default in case
of a dispute with an airline (Resolution 818 Attachment A § 1.10) have been modified, so
that instead of putting the disputed amount of short payment into an escrow account, it
will be paid to the BSP and held in the BSP hinge account pending settlement. IATA
explained that this is already done in practise, because escrow accounts are too
burdensome to open, as this requires the agreement of both parties to the dispute.
Resolution 818a on Europe-Accredited Agents:
o
Extension of the scope to European countries other than those of the EU, EEA and
Switzerland;
o
New provision on the completion of a form by the head office;
o
Editorial changes to ensure that the provisions apply to the applicant and any of its
Locations.
Resolution 820d on the Office of the Travel Agency Commissioner:
The main aspects of the adopted revision are as follows:
-
Specification of a TAC profile, which ensures that applicants must be qualified and neutral;
-
Clarification that agents will pay a contribution of not less than 5 USD and not more than 10
USD per year for the TAC programme and that airlines will contribute for the same total
amount as agents;
-
Subject TAC travel to pre-authorisation by IATA, WTAAA and ECTAA;
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
3
-
To ensure the TAC neutrality, prevent the TAC from addressing industry conferences and
from offering guidance to one party to a review. However the TAC can answer to punctual
requests which are not linked to a case of dispute.
-
Maintain records of proceedings and provide them to IATA, WTAAA and UFTAA;
-
Maintain a TAC information website;
‚
Resolution 820e on Reviews by the Travel Agency Commissioner: amendments introduced by
IATA to make it clear that the Commissioner must only deal with cases over which he/she has
jurisdiction, to restrict his/her ability to grant interim relief, and to provide to IATA the right to
have a TAC decision reviewed by arbitration (previously, only agents and airlines had this
right).
‚
Rescission of Resolution 830 on multiple ticket issuance by agents;
‚
Resolution 830a on violation of ticketing and reservation procedures:
New provisions in the list of prohibited practices:
Amendments to provide airlines with the ability to issue an ADM as a consequence of a
violation of ticketing and reservation procedures:
-
Clarification that prohibited practices are listed in applicable Resolutions, carriers’
written instructions, but are not limited thereto;
-
Indication that as a sanction, an airline can charge the agent with the difference
between the fare applied and the fare applicable to the service in accordance with IATA
airline’s tariffs;
-
Addition to the list of prohibited practices:
•
Issuing/selling a ticket with a fictitious point of origin or destination in order to
undercut the applicable fare (cross border selling);
Note of the Secretariat: this provision may conflict with the developing case law on
free use of coupons.
‚
•
Deliberately making duplicate reservations for the same customer;
•
When reservations for a group are not confirmed, attempting to secure the required
service by requesting this in smaller numbers in individual transactions;
•
Making reservations transactions without the specific request of a customer.
•
Making an amendment to a booking that has previously been issued as an e-ticket
without either revalidating or reissuing, as applicable, the original ticket to reflect the
new itinerary.
•
Voiding tickets without cancelling corresponding reservations;
•
Failing to split PNRs in cases where not all passengers included in the PNR are
ticketed;
•
Failing to observe the prescribed minimum connecting time. ECTAA/GEBTA had
raised concerns considering that some failures can come from the GDSs.
Resolution 832 on reporting and remitting (for Croatia and Turkey):
Accumulated irregularities: amendments to update the wording of Resolution 832 according
to the differences between each applicable sales agency rules.
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
4
‚
Rescission of Resolution 836 on issuance for agents at airports, which dealt with the possibility
for airlines to levy service charges on agents, despite the concerns expressed by agents
because it can open the door to excessive service charges.
‚
Resolution 838 on revalidation or reissue: removal of all references to “revalidation”
concerning IATA tickets and replacement by “changes”/”alteration” of Traffic Documents
concerning exchange/reissue transactions. The revalidation sticker system is maintained for
carriers’ own paper tickets. The revised Resolution 838 provides that alterations to e-tickets
shall be made in accordance with the carrier’s instructions as provided by the automated
ticketing system. It specifies that other than e-ticketing, when authorisation to reissue is
required, written evidence of such authorisation must be obtained and made available by the
respective carrier.
‚
New Resolution 850 Attachment A on Airline Direct Web Sales issuance for Travel Agents
(applicable since 31 January 2009)
This is a new optional scheme for BSP airlines. It concerns cases where tickets are issued
through the airline web application on behalf of IATA accredited agents. We understand that it
corresponds mainly to the use by IATA accredited agents of certain airline web platforms
dedicated to agents. IATA indicated that under such scheme, agents may be requested to
increase their financial guarantee with 60 days notice to cover the concerned web sales.
Moreover, all reporting and remittance conditions, including irregularity and default provisions
will apply both to the BSP airline and the accredited agent.
Debts that could result from web sales will not affect BSP core activities.
An airline will notify agents if it decides to process web sales through BSP.
The new resolution raises concerns due to the uncertain legal relationship under the IATA
Passenger Sales Agency Agreement between IATA accredited agents and IATA airlines for the
issuance of tickets by an airline on behalf of an agent.
‚
Resolution 850m on the Issue and Processing of ADMs: as a first step to solve the issues
raised by ADMs on automated/guaranteed fares, PAConf and the Passenger Service
Conference have established a common indicator for guaranteed fares, to be indicated in
the electronic ticket record and in possible ADMs. A new § 1.10 on the Fare Calculation
Mode Indicator (FCMI)1 has been added in Resolution 850m Attachment A, i.e. in the binding
part of Resolution 850m, to oblige airlines to include in any ADM the FCMI provided by the
GDS.
‚
Resolution 852 on Designation and Selection of Ticketing Airline:
o
Terminology changes on the designation of the ticketing airline in order to
address discrepancies between the ATPCO rules and IATA resolutions for
determining the validating carrier.
o
Designation of the ticketing airline for EMD (paperless MCO/MPD): In order to
avoid unnecessary interline situations, Resolution 852 has been amended to allow
agents to select the operating carrier as the ticketing carrier for EMDs issued for
optional services (e.g. a meal).
1
FARE CALCULATION MODE INDICATOR — 1 NUMERIC
The identifier reflecting the method of pricing for this transaction.
0 = System computer priced (without any manual modifications except for the baggage allowance)
1 = Manually priced
2–9 = For individual airline/system provider use
A–Z = Undefined industry use
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
5
‚
Resolution 866 on definitions: Update and removal of definitions, notably considering the end
of neutral paper tickets and the removal of STPs.
‚
Resolution 890 on Card Sales Rules, new §2.2.2 (applicable since 20 June 2008): failure by
the agent to settle any chargeback resulting from a non-face-to-face transaction shall be dealt
with in accordance with the reporting and remittance procedures concerning Accounting
Irregularities and Default Action.
2) BSP Manual
The BSP Manual was modified by PAConf/31, with effect from 1 June 2009. The main changes in
the new BSP Manual are the following:
The following Chapters have been deleted:
-
Chapter 2 on Provision of Standard Traffic Documents;
-
Chapter 3 on Completion of Standard Traffic Documents, except the section on cancelled
standard traffic document or voided coupons;
-
Chapter 4 on Standard Traffic Documents, including provisions on validation and issuance
procedures, and designation and selection of the ticketing airline;
-
Chapter 5 on Standard Administrative Forms, including the detailed provisions on ADMs
and ADM disputes;
-
Chapter 6 on Reporting procedures.
In Section 1, Chapter 4, § 4.3, the paragraph on airline responsibilities has been removed.
As a matter for noting, under Section 1, Chapter 4, §4.7, a new provision introduces the possibility
of extending the services of BSP to parties not directly related to air transport.
In Section 2, Chapter 1 on Standard Traffic Documents:
- the provisions on serial numbers of STDs have been deleted (§1.2.2 in the current BSP
Manual);
- the provision on stickers have been removed (§ 1.6.7 and 1.6.8 in the current BSP Manual),
whereas resolution 838 maintains the use of revalidation stickers for changes of
reservations on airlines’ own traffic documents.
In Section 2, Chapter 4 on Refunds:
The following provisions have been deleted:
- on Refund of partially used tickets (§11.2.2 in the previous Manual);
- on Airline refund application/authority (§11.3.4 in the previous Manual);
- on Handling of refunds by IATA Members, including a cross reference to Resolution 824r
on the timeframe for refunds (§ 11.3.5 in the previous Manual),
In Section 2, Chapter 6 on Billing and Statements
The following provisions have been deleted:
- the provision that BSP provides Agents with billing statements and billing analyses without
charge (§ 7.2 in the previous Manual);
- on special billings and deferred billings (7.3 in the previous Manual);
- on disputed billings (7.5 in the previous Manual);
- on annual sales volume and traffic document usage (7.6 in the previous Manual);
- on additional services to agents (7.7 in the previous Manual);
- on collection of CRS user fees from agents (7.8 in the previous Manual).
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
6
In Section 2, Chapter 7 on Agents’ Remittance Procedures:
The detailed provisions on ADMs have been deleted (§5.5 of the previous BSP Manual). The new
§11.10 makes a reference to Resolutions in the Travel Agent Handbook.
In Section 2, Chapter 8 on handling of irregularities and default:
The provisions on review by the Travel Agency Commissioner (§ 9.9.1 in the current Manual) and
on Arbitration (§9.10 of the current Manual) have been deleted.
In Section 2, Chapter 9 on Suspension of operations by a BSP airline:
The following provisions have been deleted:
- on action when the airline is not suspended or is reinstated after suspension and retention
of fund as security (§13.4 in the current Manual);
- on lifting of suspension (§ 13.5 in the current Manual);
- on defaulting airline owing money to the clearing bank (§13.6 of the current Manual).
Part of those provisions are reflected in Resolution 850 Attachment F, however this Resolution is
not part of the Travel Agent Handbook.
Do not hesitate to send your questions or comments to the Secretariat
With kind regards,
Isabelle Leroy
Legal Advisor
ECTAA, AISBL, Rue Dautzenberg 36, B – 1050 Bruxelles, Tel : +32 (0)2 644 34 50 / Fax : +32 (0)2 644 24 21 Email : secretariat@ectaa.eu / www.ectaa.eu
7