By Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent

A WEEK after travel agents in India stopped selling Singapore Airlines tickets because of a dispute over sales commissions, both sides are sticking to their guns.

SIA says the boycott has had no significant impact on its business.

For their part, the travel agents insist they will not back down, and have stopped selling SilkAir tickets as well - with effect from last Thursday.

The industry has been up in arms since November, when SIA and several other major carriers, including Lufthansa and British Airways, stopped paying travel agents a 5 per cent commission on the base fare.

Mr Rajinder Rai, president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) - the travel agents' representative body - told The Straits Times last Friday that for now, there are no plans to boycott the other foreign carriers.

The association will deal with the airlines one at a time, he said.

So far, its move seems to have had little success with SIA.

'After five days of a so-called boycott in India, we are seeing no discernable drop in sales. People are still booking on our flights,' said airline spokesman Stephen Forshaw.

'The recently announced fare specials have also increased interest in travel to Singapore and beyond among Indians.'

As part of an ongoing promotion, SIA is offering tickets for flights out of India to several destinations in South-east Asia and Australia, at up to 50 per cent off the normal rates.

It is understood that despite the boycott, some local agents, as well as global travel management companies, continue to sell for SIA.

'We cannot do much about that but in the end, these companies are really just cheating themselves,' said Mr Rai.

'As far as the association is concerned, we will continue with our stance for as long as it takes.'

A similar tactic against Indian local carriers had paid off.

After travel agents boycotted Jet Airways last month, the airline, along with Air India and Kingfisher Airlines, gave in and agreed to pay a 3 per cent commission on the base fare, as well as the fuel surcharge.

While SIA remains committed to a dialogue with the industry, it stands firm in its view that instead of relying on commissions, travel agents should charge their customers a transaction fee for services provided, said Mr Forshaw.
Such has been the practice in Singapore, the United States and across Europe for many years.

SIA, which flies to the main cities of India including Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, is the largest foreign carrier operating in the country, with more than 50 flights a week.

Its subsidiary, SilkAir, flies to the Indian cities of Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.

karam@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 3, 2008.

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