The International Air Transport Association (IATA) plans to push next week for aggressive industry deregulation since governments and airports had not done enough to improve efficiency, its head said on Thursday.
IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said the group of 265 airlines would propose further deregulation at its annual meeting in Tokyo on Monday and Tuesday.
“We see too many inefficiencies … we, the customers, are not any more ready to pay for their inefficiencies,” he told a news conference.
World passenger traffic grew 8.7 percent in the first four months of 2005, but the growth has not translated into profitability due to skyrocketing fuel costs.
Over regulation, inefficiencies at airports and air-navigation service providers had marred efforts to cut costs, says IATA, which coordinates aviation rules and standards.
More: edition.cnn.com
Related Travel Information
Travel agents across the country on strike today
Nearly 2,200 travel agents across the nation will go on a one-day strike on Friday to protest Air-India’s plans to drop their commission from seven per cent to five per cent.
This was declared at a forum convened by travel associations including the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), the IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI).
Ajay Prakash, chairman, western region, TAFI, said, “Travel agents generate around Rs 2,500 crore business for Air-India. By dropping commissions they are biting the hands that feed them.”
The agents have also decided to
Position available at Air New Zealand
Do you have excellent customer service standards, telephone communication skills and love the challenge of maximising sales opportunities on Air New Zealand products?
As a Travel Consultant you will be working in a demanding and challenging environment where it is a necessity to be both proactive and reactive, while remaining calm and having the ability to cope professionally under pressure. You will provide a professional and complete travel service to our customers.
In addition, you will provide sales support functions to our team of external Account Managers and administration duties for the Perth office.
If
Global air travel continues to increase
Air travel worldwide increased by 6.6 percent in February from a year ago, the International Air Transport Association reported Thursday.
The Geneva-based group which represents some of the world's biggest air carriers said travel to and from the Middle East and Latin America was the strongest in the latest month. The IATA also said the negative effect of the tsunami hitting across southeast Asia was largely gone by February.
But the head of the IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, warned profits could be eaten up as oil prices continue to rise.
"If the average price of oil settles
The City of Philadelphia sued 19 online travel booking agencies, seeking payment of hotel taxes they collect.
Defendants include the biggest names in online booking -- Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline and Cheap Tickets, among others.
In a lawsuit filed July 10 in Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, the city claimed the travel companies collected taxes on hotel rooms sold, but failed to pay the city its share, which is 7 percent of the room cost.
The city seeks repayment and a full accounting.
More: travelindustrywire.com
Olmert Seeks Consensus on Pullback; Hamas Gets Time From Europe
Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought to build domestic agreement on future withdrawals from the West Bank as European diplomats offered Hamas more time to change its stance on rejecting Middle East peace talks.
Olmert said that if elected prime minister March 28, he will reach out to Jewish settlers and try to avoid violent clashes like those that occurred in August when authorities evacuated Israelis from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank.
``The permanent borders of Israel must be fixed and I want to
