DAMMAM, 15 January — The continuing drop in the number of Arabs flying into European destinations has prompted several airlines to offer attractive packages in order to regenerate confidence in the market.
British Airways took the lead in the promotion and slashed its fare to London drastically. Now a passenger traveling to London from Dammam can pay as little as SR950 for a return economy class ticket. Gulf Air also announced a new package: SR900 for an economy return ticket.
The travel industry believes that in the coming days fares to other destinations will also be slashed by several European airlines operating from Dammam. However, the national carrier Saudia has retained its own fare structure.
Fares to US destinations have also been slashed by many airlines operating from Bahrain.
The travel industry sources, however, say that these measures are not enough to generate confidence among passengers. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, manager of a travel agency in Dammam, said that the decline was not due to increased fare but the existing political situation around the globe.
“Let’s face the fact: Arab passengers are weary of traveling to Europe and America after the hate campaign launched against them in these countries after Sept. 11,” he commented.
Travel agents confirmed that such campaigns do not have a long-lasting impact. “Such offers may attract few passengers, but certainly not those people who have decided to ignore these destinations due to the hate campaign. Confidence among Arab passengers can only be restored through political reforms and firm action taken against those who perpetrated the hate crimes,” said another travel agent in Alkhobar, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a fare war has again emerged in the Indian and other Asian sectors. The main players are Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways.
Fares to Bombay and Delhi, which was increased just a month ago, have once again fallen to one of their lowest ever levels. While Air-India and Saudia are offering an economy class return ticket for Bombay for SR1,350, Qatar Airways has brought it down to SR1,150. A similar decline is reported on destinations to Southern India.
The situation has been complicated by the immense commissions given by some of these airlines to travel agents, sometimes as high as 22 percent. The airlines defend their commissions by saying they are only for selected agents whose sales performance has been exceptional.
Air industry sources say that the problem of undercutting is aggravated by Saudia’s policy on general sales agents (GSAs). “Almost every second travel agency in the region is a GSA of Saudia and hence they get extra GSA commission on the tickets. These travel agents hand that discount over to the customer and thus sell tickets more cheaply,” said manager of an Asian airline operating from Dammam.
Saudia counters such charges by saying that no one has stopped other airlines from introducing more GSAs. All the airlines are unanimous that the market could improve only if Presidency of Civil Aviation (PCA) intervenes in a more decisive manner.
