CWT signs distribution deal with BA and Iberia
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has signed a deal with British Airways and its sister airline Iberia which, it says, will allow its clients to avoid paying a surcharge for GDS bookings.
It comes days after the airlines, which are bringing in a €10 fee for indirect bookings on November 1, signed a similar agreement with rival TMC heavyweight American Global Business Travel.
CWT refused to disclose details of the deal but said it highlights its ‘long-standing partnership’ with BA and Iberia and its ‘mutual commitment to the concept of~new distribution capabilities (NDC) to drive improved product differentiation’.
Lufthansa was the first airline to introduce a fee for GDS bookings, back in September 2015, causing an uproar in the agent communication.
A coalition of trade bodies and consumer groups has since written to the EU to demand an inquiry into what it sees as non-competitive practices by the airlines.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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