Travel agencies incur Tk 6b loss in 6 days of internet outage

The travel agencies have until Jul 31 to pay their dues to foreign airlines

FE Team | Published: July 27, 2024 00:10:43

Travel agencies across the country have incurred a loss of Tk 6 billion in six days amid the curfew, holidays, and internet service interruption around the quota protests, reports bdnews24.com.
According to the members of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh or ATAB, travel agencies make sales of at least Tk 1 billion every day.
However, since Jul 18, travel agencies in Bangladesh have incurred huge losses after air ticket sales, hotel bookings and flight date change services were closed indefinitely.
They were also unable to collect their money from various corporations in addition to their regular customers. Since the shutdown led to the closure of banks and other financial services, the travel agents could not make any financial transactions during the nationwide shutdown programmes.
The agencies also failed to pay their dues to foreign airlines on time per the rules of the International Air Transport Association or IATA.
As tensions escalated across the country amid the protests calling for the reform of the quota system for government jobs, mobile internet services were halted on Jul 17.
Broadband internet services were also shut down on the night of Jul 18 as violence ran rampant on streets across the country.
The internet blackout caused customers to suffer as they could not make any financial transactions through mobile phones to pay their gas and electricity bills. ATM booths were also closed in several places.
Several e-commerce websites and various other businesses, including the garments sector, came to a standstill due to the lack of internet across Bangladesh. Ports were also closed during this time. Online media portals, travel agencies, as well as other online businesses incurred huge losses amid the protests.
However, broadband internet services gradually returned from Jul 23 after the government imposed a curfew and the army was deployed on the streets to control the situation.
Mobile internet services have yet to return.
Although citizens now have access to broadband internet, social media apps including Facebook are still not available to the general public.
On Jul 24, ATAB President Abdus Salam Aref told bdnews24.com: "As the internet was off, we couldn't pay our dues to the foreign airlines. We were also unable to collect our dues as the banking services were shut down. We had a daily business of Tk 1 billion. We have incurred a loss of Tk 6 billion in six days."
Several foreign airlines collect their dues from ATAB after selling tickets. ATAB acts as an intermediary between travel agents and foreign airlines.
Travel agents pay for tickets to foreign airlines following the deadlines set by the ATAB. Generally, the dues have to be paid within 15 days of the sale.
"IATA's next payment is due on Jul 31. We still don't have proper access to the internet. Today is Jul 24. And if we can't pay our dues within the deadline, then we will be defaulters, and the services provided by the foreign airlines in the country will be disrupted," said Abdus Salam.
He further added: "If we are unable to collect the money from customers and other corporate organisations, we won't be able to pay our dues to the airlines on time."
"We have not been able to contact any airlines for the past few days due to the internet being down. The software through which we communicate is called GDS. This software cannot be accessed if there is no internet. We were unable to make contact even when we tried calling directly. All in all, we are at a loss."
"However, we are hopeful that if the internet connection is fully accessible now, we may be able to pay the amount in the time we have left. We will request the IATA to extend the deadline by another week to clear the dues."