The reduction in Air Malta's commission to travel agents has had mixed reactions, with some agents complaining that the change will affect them negatively.

In an evident move to boost online bookings, the airline announced last Friday that it was introducing a service fee of €10 for tickets issued from its sales office and €5 on tickets issued from its call centre.

But it also announced that it would be reducing travel agents' commission from four to one percent, which follows on previous reductions in the past two years - down from nine per cent.

The cuts have prompted agents to introduce their own service fees but this time, some agents say, the bar has been lowered too much.

Britannia Tours chief executive director Noel Farrugia says the commission reduction will have a negative effect on travel agents, and that staff wages cannot be covered by ticket sales.

"Before, on a business class ticket of €600, we would make four per cent. When you consider an agent's responsibility, problems do arise and we are not always covered by the €10 service fee."

Air Malta is continually reducing its costs but its prices are not falling as a result in order to benefit the consumer, Mr Farrugia insisted.

The airline's general manager for marketing, Brian Bartolo defended the cuts, pointing out that Air Malta had reduced its commission to one per cent in its overseas markets about two years ago, and that it had already informed local travel agents of further future reductions at the time, giving them time to restructure.

Contradicting Mr Farrugia's assessment, in fact, Mr Bartolo insisted that "fares have gone down dramatically," which, however, meant that even had the commission levels remained the same, travel agents would still have not stood a chance of survival on that alone.

Mr Bartolo pointed out that travel agents today are even selling low-cost airlines and charging a service fee.

"It would have been a blow to travel agents had we reduced the commission but not introduced the service fees for Air Malta sales offices. Then, they would have definitely lost out."

Georges Bonello DuPuis of Air Tours Services more or less echoed Mr Bartolo, saying that his company is not being affected by the cut in commission because he had seen it coming. "Who did not, is simply not living here!"

Travel agencies offer a better service than Air Malta's sales offices and call centre, which still charge a fee of €10 and €5 respectively on every ticket purchase, he added.

Another bone of contention for Mr Farrugia is that, from November 1, Air Malta's chartered flights will not be providing meals and will be charging passengers if they want food. The airline explained that it was doing what the majority of charter operators do: submit quotes on the cost basis of the operation per se. The meal - if the client wants it - is charged over and above that.

But Mr Farrugia maintained that the quote for a chartered flight in October, which included a meal, was the same as a flight in November and December, without.

He also pointed out that, from November 1, Air Malta will not be giving a free ticket for every 25 paid adults for group travel. In other words, the tour leader would no longer be travelling for free, and this would translate into added costs for the consumer - a point which was also made by Norman Hamilton of Hamilton Travel.

Mr Bartolo boiled the issue down to price restructuring in line with revenue management. The airline has departed from fixed group rates and, today, the price varies according to demand, he said.

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