Job Loss Increases In Aviation As Foreign Airlines Shut Inventory To Travel Agents
Travel agencies have been shutting down operations in Nigeria over the last six months due to the challenge of trapped funds. NewsBeatng can authoritatively reports.
Checks by NewsBeatng revealed that some of the travel agencies have reduced their number of staff within the period as some of the airlines, especially European, American, and the Middle East, including Ethiopian Airlines from Africa have shut their Global Distribution Systems (GDS) against the travel agencies.
The shutting down of the GDS automatically stops travel agents who are regarded as travel partners to airlines from booking flights for their clients through the platform.
The travel agents get some commission for each booking made for air travellers through the airlines’ GDS. The commission varies from one airline to another.
Airlines like Delta, Air France/KLM, Emirates, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Turkish, and Qatar among others have closed down their GDS against the travel agency because of the unpleasant situation of trapped funds.
The implication of this is that travel agencies will no longer be able to sell air tickets to their willing clients, while passengers are compelled to buy tickets at the black-market rate of N730 to a dollar to purchase air tickets.
The bulk of commissions of travel agencies is earned from foreign airlines. The situation since January has further compounded
