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ACCREDITATION PROCESS in Central Asia and Caucasus Region. Jordan Karamalakov Country Manager BG - KZ. Antalya, 26/27 May 2009. Basic principles and governance. The Travel Agent’s Handbook (TAH) contains Passenger Agency Conference decisions
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ACCREDITATION PROCESS in Central Asia and Caucasus Region Jordan Karamalakov Country Manager BG - KZ Antalya, 26/27 May 2009
Basic principles and governance The Travel Agent’s Handbook (TAH) contains • Passenger Agency Conference decisions • Resolutions, local regulations and various information http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/travel-tourism/tah.htm - Accreditation in KZ and KG will be governed by Resolution 818g as of 01 August 2009 - Accreditation in other CIS countries from Caucasus and Central Asia region is governed by Resolution 800
Basic principles and governance • The Agency Program Joint Council for KZ and KG (APJC) • Will be in KZ by 6 airlines and 6 agents • Meets on a regular basis • Makes recommendations in the form of agenda proposals to the Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf) • Final decision of all recommendations is made by the PAConf • Next PAConf meeting scheduled for October 2009 • If necessary PAConf may take some decisions by mail vote • The local office has no authority to deviate from applying Resolution 818g in full
Agency accreditation • Done by the IATA DG for and on behalf of the airlines • By means of the Passenger Sales Agency Agreement (PSAA) • Governed by Resolution 824 • Detailed requirements are listed in Resolution 818g – Section 2 • Important • IATA accredits an agent when the agent meets all the requirements set up in the Resolution and Local Criteria • But, only the airline can allow agents to sell its tickets via the Ticketing Authority Maintenance tool in BSPLink
Risk management • Handled by IATA and considered as the main priority • Financial requirements are listed in the “Locally Established Criteria for Approval and Retention of Agents” and can be found the TAH • Requirements for KZ are not specified yet, but for example they might be • Solvency > 20 % • Liquidity > 1 • Profitability > positive • Cash flow must be positive • Changes can only be made by the PAConf
Bank guarantees • Financial assessment is made on a yearly basis • Outcome is not communicated to the airlines • Agents are required to submit a bank guarantee of 1/16th of last 12 month’s sales if remittance is weekly • Periodic revision of the bank guarantee levels is done by IATA KZ
Agency default • Detailed mechanism is listed in Resolution 818g – Attachment A – Sections 1 & 2 • Always done by IATA and based upon facts, not upon hearsay or rumors • Ticketing Authority is removed by IATA • Airlines are notified by means of the weekly bulletin • In case IATA has paid uncollected funds to the airlines, claw back will happen during the next period