APAI opposes Air India's decision to have single GDS platform

Air passengers' grouping APAI has approached the Civil Aviation Ministry against Air India's decision to shift to a single global distribution services platform from December 4.

In a release Wednesday, the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) said Air India's "unwise decision" should not be implemented as it would adversely impact the national carrier and also benefit the airline's competitors.

The grouping has written to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha on the issue.

Last month, UK-based firm Travelport bagged the contract for Air India's domestic ticket distribution services replacing Amadeus.

The national carrier is to move to a single GDS platform from December 4.

"With Air India's move to put all its ticketing with a single technology, it is further learnt that after December 4, this will disconnect about 18 code share airlines and over 100 interline partners...," the release said.

Code sharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence. An interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated by the partner airline.

Air India's decision to restrict itself to a single platform from December 4 is a "highly retrograde step" and an anti-consumer move, the APAI said.

"Post December 4, the PNRs already issued, fresh bookings, the onward journeys, crediting of Star Alliance Partners' miles by Air India will need to be resolved by its own call centres and customer care," APAI Founder and National President Sudhakara Reddy D said.

Earlier this month, travel industry bodies TAAI and TAFI urged the Air India management not to discontinue the inventory from other existing GDS providers.