Financial Times

Howls of protest over cheap Bangkok package

Many people keen to make use of a special cut-rate promotional package offer to Bangkok by some travel agents through Cathay Pacific Airways have been disappointed .

One travel agent advertised return tickets to Bangkok at an unbelievable Rs. 9,000 plus normal taxes with the offer valid up to June 16 while another agent offered it at Rs. 11,940 plus Rs. 600 tax and valid till June 20.

But travel industry sources say a large number of small time travel agents were left out of the scheme with tickets being offered only to favoured, large scale agents.

When Cathay Pacific was contacted on June 19 to purchase a cut rate air ticket, the Sales Department said it was not taking any more reservations as Contd. from page 1

all the promotional tickets were sold out. Another travel agent whose deadline for offers ended only on June 20, too indicated the previous day that the promotional programme was closed as tickets were sold out.

The price of a normal ticket to Bangkok is around Rs. 20,700.

A spokesman for the smaller travel agents complained that the airlines often block seats to some favoured travel agents.
Another allegation is that these cut-rate tickets were offered only to friends and relatives of those connected to these agents with the promotional campaign being just a smokescreen.

Significantly while Cathay Pacific offered cheap airfares to Bangkok, Thai International Airways continued to sell tickets at the normal fare.

An industry source said Cathay which has seen its load factors to Hong Kong fall in recent months due to SARS, may have wanted to cover losses by offering cheap fares to other popular destinations.

Industry sources said unethical practices were creeping in partly because the Market Development Programme (MDP) committee which represented the industry was discontinued earlier this year due to a court ruling. This committee controlled the selling price of airline tickets to agents and then from agents to the public through orderly market practices that protected and benefited everyone.