Air France-KLM to introduce GDS fee

The airline group said it would be introducing a Distribution Surcharge for GDS sales from April 1, 2018, but it has not revealed how much the charge will be.

Air France-KLM said it was making the move to “adapt to market circumstances and to further improve its efficiency”. The surcharge will not apply to agency sales made through NDC (New Distribution Capability) connections or via the airlines’ direct channels.

The airline group made the announcement as it unveiled third quarter results, which showed a 23.6% increase in operating profit to €1.07 billion for the first nine months of the year.

Total revenue rose by 4.2% across the group to €19.5 billion over the same period with passenger numbers increasing by 6% to 75,000.

Jean-Marc Janaillac, chair of the board of directors, said: “The strong operating performance achieved by the group in the third quarter reflects a sustained execution on our strategic priorities, as well as a robust business environment translated into solid traffic and unit revenue trends.

“We continued to move forward notably with the expansion of our network of strategic alliances and the implementation of a new distribution model. At the same time, we relentlessly pursued our efforts to strengthen our financial structure.

“All of these accomplishments demonstrate that Air France-KLM is well on track to deliver on Trust Together strategic priorities of growing revenues and improve competitiveness.”