The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has suspended GMG Airlines Ltd from its billing and settlement plan (BSP) as the carrier failed to pay dues.
Due to the suspension, all travel and ticketing agents and general sales agents will remove GMG Airlines' ticketing authorities from their systems. The BSP travel agents will also stop all ticketing and refund transactions through the BSP link.
Industry insiders said the suspension will be a huge setback to the country's first private passenger airline as its payments using the BSP link and ticket sales in different countries will come to a halt.
GMG said its tickets sales will not be affected much, as agents can book tickets through their internet booking engine or B2B (business to business) system.
IATA provides services for the settlement of financial transactions between travel agents and airlines. The BSP link is an internet-based system, which facilitates these interactions and exchange of information between all participants.
Travel agents sell tickets across the globe and make financial transactions through global distribution systems (GDS) that use the BSP link.
In a letter to all BSP participants on Monday, Karthik S, IATA's country manager in Bangladesh, said, "BSP travel agents should stop immediately all ticketing and refund transactions through the GDS and BSP link and continue to remit funds to the BSP."
The letter also said that the IATA will be pursuing an agreement with the airline to formalise the ticket refund process.
Meanwhile, Asif Ahmed, director of marketing, HR and customer experience of GMG Airlines, said they issued payment for BSP at the end of last week but payment processing on the US end has taken longer time than usual.
"We are in touch with the IATA, and BSP should resume as soon as the payment clears," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
He also said, within this period, agents can book tickets through their internet booking engine or call their sales representatives and send emails.
When asked about the amount outstanding, Ahmed could not immediately give the figure.
http://www.thedailystar.net
http://www.thedailystar.net
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