Local travel agents yesterday warned to boycott selling of tickets of the foreign airlines for not paying them nearly Taka 150 crore agency commission that accumulated in the last year, reports BSS. The non-payment on the pseudo ground of “Paying of fuel surcharges” by the airlines is also depriving Bangladeshi passengers and the government, leaders of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), a grouping of 3000 local travel agents, told a press conference here today.
”If foreign airlines don’t merge their fuel surcharge with base fare by December 10, we will boycott some leading airlines like Etihad and Malaysia Airlines,” ATAB President Monjur Morshed Mahbub told the press conference at the association office here.
The chief of ATAB, a body of 3000 travel agents, said they decided to take tougher programme, if the government doesn’t stop the foreign airlines to transact huge amount of money abroad illegally depriving the local ticketing companies and general passengers.
After December 10, he said first, they will start boycotting selling ticket of Etihad and Malaysia Airlines as these two airlines are giving lead in surcharge disputes. “If required, we will stop selling ticket of all foreign airlines here,” he said.
Mahbub said the foreign airlines charge nearly half the amount of air fare as fuel surcharge when they operate from Bangladesh, providing no commission to the agents on that surcharge eventually preventing them from giving expected discounts to the passengers.
”Currently the airlines are giving commission to travel agents only 50 percent of the total fare which they call basic fare and refrained from giving any commission on the rest 50 percent describing it as fuel surcharge,” Mahbub said.
He said the foreign airlines remitted Taka 4162 crore from the country by selling ticket last year and of the amount they straightaway took away half the amount as fuel surcharge while “we deserved at least
Taka 150 crore more as commission” requiring the passengers to pay an higher amount for air travels.
Citing example, Mahbub said Malaysian airlines was charging Taka 16,500 as fuel surcharge on its Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route, whereas it was charging only Taka 310 on its Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route.
”In line with our directive the CAA’B (Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh) issued in November last year a letter asking the foreign airlines’ to merge their fuel surcharge with the basic fare but they are  yet to respond to the call,” civil aviation and tourism minister Rashed Khan Menon told BSS in an interview yesterday.
He added: “I am going to ask CAA’B to send the foreign airlines’ another such letter and unless they respond immediately we may summon them and demand an explanation . . . I am serious about the matter as interest of the common passengers is also
related here.”
ATAB Secretary General Aslam Khan, executive vice president Abdul Qaium and Vice-presidents Tajul Islam, Abu Jafar and Abdul Jababr Jalil, among others were present at the press conference.