LOT and IATA to set up panel on ticket commissions

LOT Polish Airlines has come to an agreement with agents of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), who account for 80% of the carrier's ticket sales, by withdrawing their planned cut in ticket commission payments from 7% to 4%. The national carrier proposed the creation of a team of experts to decide on their commission structure. Ryszard Posyniak, the head of IATA in Poland, announced that the panel, which according to LOT's proposal would consist of two or three members, would present a study of agents' commissions within the EU. The study shows that an agent earns on average euro 35.5 on every return ticket it sells. LOT announced in December last year that it planned to cut the commission rate on April 1. The move was strongly supported by the members of Star Alliance, which LOT will join in October. Lufthansa is to lower the rate in June, Austrian Airlines in July and SAS in August. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) A.K.