Flight Centre kisses SIA goodbye
BRISBANE – Flight Centre has dumped Singapore Airline as a preferred supplier.
It will continue to sell Singapore Airlines’ fares but has formally ended 2009-2010 preferred contract negotiations with the airline.
The news is no surprise. Last month the retailer took Singapore Airlines off its list of 40 preferred airlines, and told staff to stop promoting SIA to clients.
Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner told staff, “These poor economic times give us a chance to get at and punish those carriers (only one or two) who are trying to undercut us on the web, thus costing us in price beatsâ€, referring to Flight Centre’s policy to beat any cheaper available price.
Now, after four months of negotiations, Flight Centre advised SIA’s management that the airline’s preferred supplier agreement would not be renewed.
Turner said FLT’s decision was based on unattractive contract offerings that would have led to uncompetitive customer offerings.
As a non-preferred airline, he anticipated SIA would lose more than half the business FLT previously expected to generate for it during the 2009-2010 financial year.
During 2008-2009, FLT’s 1000 Australian leisure and corporate travel outlets generated more than $300million in revenue for SIA.
By shifting potential SIA business to other airlines, FLT expects improved profit under its new mix of preferred carriers.
“We would like to work proactively with SIA but unfortunately its final offer for 2009-2010 was inferior to agreements that are in place with its major competitors in this market,†Turner said. “We have decided on this basis not to promote SIA as a preferred carrier.
“SIA’s use of fuel surcharges was also a factor, with these confusing and seemingly excessive charges now making up more than 30 percent of SIA’s base airfares.
“For a flight to London, SIA’s fuel surcharges are, in fact, among the highest in the world.â€
Contrary to some industry suggestions, Turner stressed that FLT would not follow the lead of India’s travel agents, who have boycotted Singapore Airlines.
“Our decision to walk away from a preferred supplier agreement with SIA will have no impact on our leisure and corporate travel customers or on our bottom line.â€
Turner said Flight customers would always be offered SIA if that was their preference.
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025