HYDERABAD: Travel agents across the State would stop their operations on Tuesday demanding payment of commission from airlines on air tickets sold through them.
According to state chaper Travel Agents Association of India secretary, Ajay Kumar Ramidi, the agents sell around 5000 air tickets every day in Hyderabad city alone. For the last few months, the airlines have stopped paying commission to the agents, he said. The commission being the only source of revenue for the agents, they were being forced to go on a day’s strike.
He maintained that the airlines wanted the consumers to book their tickets through their portals and other websites. But this would lead to losses for consumers as they would be paying more the tickets. Since travel agents booked tickets in bulk, there was a scope for getting tickets at a concession and the same was transferred to consumers, he claimed. There are over 125 registered travel agents in the State. Of them 110 operate from Hyderabad.
EOM
