British Airways Adds a Fee That Could Weaken Airline-Ticket Middlemen
Photo Credit: International Airlines Group chief executive Willie Walsh expressed scathing remarks about the airline distribution middlemen in his recent earnings call with investors. IAG
Skift Take
Skift anticipated that British Airways and Iberia would copy Lufthansa's pioneering move to push middlemen further out of the distribution chain. But the move is still eyebrow-raising because it defies two years of predictions by the distribution systems that Lufthansa's effort would fizzle out.
British Airways plans to add a surcharge on some tickets, a move that could help reset airline relationships with the powerful global distribution systems.
On Friday, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), parent company of British Airways and Iberia, said that it will add a fee of £8 (about $10.63) per leg of a trip on tickets that are booked through the three largest middlemen for distributing tickets to travel agencies: Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport.
Skift reported in March we expected a move like this from the airline group.
IAG's new surcharge, which goes into effect November 1, follows a pioneering move by Lufthansa in September 2015, when the German flagship carrier was the first to risk the ire of travel agents and implement a surcharge of 16 euro (about $17.80) on bookings that weren't direct. Northwest Airlines, which merged with Delta, tried something similar in 2004 but never went through with it because the backlash was too great.
The British Air
