Following an announcement from American Express GBT, British Airways and Iberia have reached similar agreements with various travel agencies to allow clients to avoid some GDS booking fees.
The latest distribution agreement was made with Ian Allan Travel, Key Travel, Tropical Sky and Wexas, whose clients will be able to avoid an £8 surcharge on bookings made through Amadeus’ GDS, which the airlines will introduce from November 1.
Ian Luck, BA’s head of distribution, said: “We will continue to work with agents, GDSs and technology providers to ensure that our new capability content will have a strong market reach.”
The news follows announcements made this week that similar agreements have been made with American Express GBT, HRG and the Lotus Group.
A spokesperson from Amadeus commented: “With IAG, we are facilitating bilateral agreements between the airline group and travel agencies using the GDS.
“In parallel, Amadeus is actively working with IAG and travel agencies to deliver on their NDC-related needs today and in the future. We are committed and already investing in integrating NDC into our platform and we are in talks with airlines and travel agencies in all segments and regions in order to create the best solution for the industry. Our objective is to ensure high adoption of NDC in the marketplace by meeting the business needs of all parties.
Amadeus strongly believes that indirect distribution remains the most cost-efficient solution for all parties on a global scale.”