International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday said it has suspended Fly540 for breaching its Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) rules under Resolution 850.
Under Resolution 850, IATA can order the suspension of an airline’s ticket sales when it owes payments via the BSP, when it ceases all scheduled passenger operations, or when it enters a bankruptcy process.
The BSP is an electronic system operated by IATA that allows accredited travel agents to book tickets and manage the payments for airlines that have registered with the system.
“IATA has suspended Fly540 with immediate effect, in accordance with the provisions in Resolution 850 ‘Attachment F’.
“BSP travel agents must immediately suspend all ticketing activities on behalf of Fly540, including the use of automated systems for processing of refunds or other transactions on behalf of Fly540. BSP travel agents must immediately stop using Fly540’s name and numeric code as a ticketing airline,” the notice read in part.
Consequently, agents will not be able to receive ticketing payments on behalf of Fly540.
“All Outstanding Billings, including pending sales and pending refund claims or any future transactions, must be settled directly with Fly540. For remittance purposes, this means that the total amounts to be paid by BSP Travel Agents to the BSP for future Remittance Dates shall not contain any amounts due to or from Fly540, including any refund actually or potentially owing by Fly540. Again, no refunds may be deducted or carried out from Fly540’s Outstanding Billings, pending sales, or any other future transaction,” reads Resolution 850 Attachment F.
Fly540 flies to various destinations in East Africa including Malindi, Mombasa, Juba, Diani and Zanzibar.
