MINUTES OF BARSA MEETING #222
HELD AT JEDDAH HILTON HOTEL
ON 03 OCTOBER 2005 (29 SHA'BAN 1426H)

On behalf of BARSA Chairman Dr Omar Jefri who was indisposed to attend the meeting due to other unforeseen commitments, BARSA General Secretary Dr Ayed Al-Amri  opened the meeting, introduced the new members from EK, ET, GF, IY and WY, welcomed the participants and touched upon the major agenda items for discussion. 

The following deliberations took place: 

MINUTES OF BARSA MEETING # 221
HELD AT JEDDAH HILTON HOTEL
ON 03 APRIL 2005(24 SAFAR 1426H) 

On behalf of BARSA Chairman Dr Omar Jefri who could not attend the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances, BARSA General Secretary Dr Ayed Al-Amri opened the meeting, welcomed the participants and introduced the major agenda items for discussion. 

The following discussions took place: 

The meeting was held in a very congenial atmosphere and was closed with a prayer/lunch break.

FIRST MEETING OF CHAIRMEN
OF GCC BOARD OF AIRLINES REPRESENTATIVES

The first meeting of the Chairmen of the Gulf Cooperation Council Boards of Airlines Representatives was held at the Jeddah Hilton on 05 Shaban 1425 (19 September 2004).
In attendance were :

Dr Jefri welcomed the distinguished participants and wished them a pleasant stay in Saudi Arabia.
Dr Jefri declared the goals of this meeting as mutual benefit and exchange of common experience for arriving at a unified standard for the airlines operating in the GCC. After introductions and greetings the discussion of the topics suggested by the chairmen followed.
The following recommendations were adopted :

1. Reduction of IATA Agents Commission:
   The participants agreed to reduce the Commission to 5% within the GCC following the global industry trend. Bahrain's initiative to reduce the commission to 5% effective 15 October 2004 was supported by the Chairmen and suggested Oman, UAE and Qatar to follow suit. Likewise it was suggested to study the possibility of following this lead for passengers from KSA to GCC countries.

2. Yield Improvement Committee:
   The participants agreed on the following :
   i) To study and implement the mechanism for yield improvement in the GCC market and make recommendations for progress including the problems of variable baggage allowance and focussing on some small carriers causing disturbance of fares in the market, in the next meeting.
   
   ii) The suggestion of SV to adopt common minimum fares for different sectors under approval from the GCC Civil Aviation Departments so that no airline will go below this level, especially the small carriers, to protect safety and service level from deterioration. This step also would help yield improvement.

3. Low Fare on Low Cost Carriers (LCC):
   As some of the LCCs are national carriers, they cannot be stopped from operation and hence the participants agreed to study the steps to be adopted to prevent their negative impact and make the best procedure to deal with them.

4. Passive Segments Bookings and Noshows:
   The participants appreciated the initiatives already taken by BARSA for dealing with passive segments booking abuse by the agents which has resulted in positive improvement of yield and the SV experience in dealing with noshows for decreasing its level helping more passengers gain seats for travel. However, other carriers need to study the SV initiative and adopt similar measures.

5. Insurance and Fuel Surcharge:
   The participants agreed to make uniform policy for such surcharges to be applied within the GCC and discuss in the next meeting.

6. IATA Published Fare:
   KU suggestion to make the IATA Published Fare as the official fare was agreed upon by the participants, as this procedure is adopted already by some countries within the GCC.

7. Next Meeting:
   KU welcomed the next meeting to be held and hosted by them in Kuwait in the last week of February 2005, to which the participants agreed.

MINUTES OF BARSA MEETING # 219
HELD AT SAUDIA CLUB, KHALIDIYYAH, JEDDAH
ON 19 MAY 2004 (30 R. AWAL 1425)

BARSA Vice Chairman Mr Hamza Mohammed Sharif opened the meeting on behalf of BARSA Chairman Dr Jefri who was indisposed due to unforeseen commitments and welcomed the participants (list appended). He accorded a special welcome of induction to the new representatives from AI, BA, B8, ET, GF, QR and SQ.
Discussions on the agenda items followed :

1. FUEL SURCHARGE
   PK informed that they are applying fuel surcharge in the USD 3.00 – 10.00 range depending upon destination. RJ applies uniform rate for all destinations. BA applies USD 4.00 per sector. KU is not applying currently, but will follow suit. GF will commence application effective 01 June 2004.
   WY commented that this subject should be thoroughly discussed on the floor to evolve consensus for uniform application by all airlines. SV also supports uniform implementation. BARSA Vice Chairman Mr Sharif said that 5% jet fuel cost increase effective October 2003 justifies the uniform application of fuel surcharge by all airlines.
   RJ queried whether a directive from BARSA will follow specifying the criteria for application to which Mr Sharif responded that the BARSA Chairman will be consulted on this matter.
    

2. NOSHOW PENALTY
   PK applies SAR 50 for low season and SAR 200 for high season. SV started applying effective 01 May 2004 on the travel agencies rather than individual passengers and is showing positive impact as reported by the Yield Management Department. PK added that they are applying to the passengers and agencies depending upon who is responsible for the event of generating noshows. PK suggested that noshow penalty could be filed with the PCA for the legality of application. AI is not currently applying the noshow penalty. AF feels that as SV has the highest market share of passengers KSA-wide and the resultant better experience, SV should take the lead as the national carrier.
   Dr Al-Amri invited comments from the floor as to whether the matter should be left to the individual airlines or be tackled by BARSA. AF prefers a general resolution with room for flexibility as leaving to the individual airlines would result in unfair competition. PK feels that the matter should be left to the individual airlines as a matter of flexible application, as even the extent of noshows experienced by different airlines are different.
    

3. STATUS OF REDUCTION OF IATA COMMISSION
   Dr Al-Amri acknowledged that the industry trend is to reduce the commission from 7-5%, but SV as the national carrier of KSA is barred from application of any further reduction from 7% until further notice from the concerned government agency. The travel agencies' resentment triggered by the earlier reduction from 9-7% and their collective representation to the government has imposed this constraint on SV. As such, the matter has to be left to the individual airlines and will be under observation.
   PK plans to implement 5% from 01 July 2004. AF said that the French market will go for the reduction soon and would like to apply to all AF markets and hence suggests a workshop or subcommittee to study the issue as it cannot be implemented in isolation. BA informed that their Bahrain experience is supportive of moving to 5% but for GF's inability to apply the same within the GCC. MS is supportive of reduction in general, but the 7-5 reduction is not yet applied in Egypt. RJ has been applying 5% in Jordan for over a year.
   The consensus was that communication and mutual understanding between airlines and travel agencies should precede to generate a conducive atmosphere for further reduction, as about 65% of the traffic is still generated by the travel agencies. The airlines do not have enough margin to sustain the higher commission payment to the travel agencies and at the same time, the agencies' revenues will not be significantly affected by the reduction, as most of the commission is passed on to the passengers for competitive edge.
    

4. PASSIVE SEGMENTS BOOKING
   Mr Abdo Abi Allam (AF) Chairman of the subcommittee stated that the increase in GDS costs makes passive segments booking a critical financial issue for airlines. After the awareness seminars conducted in JED, RUH and DMM, it was decided as the next step that each airline will monitor the agency activities in order to reduce the costs related to passive segments booking.
   SQ, MH, GA, GF and AI are charging the agents based on the results of monitoring by the Head Offices. PK stated that they are not facing this problem as they pulled out from GDSs on account of this problem and hoped that they would be able to revert to GDSs once the clean-up is effective.
   GF stated that GDSs are not willing to waive payments in lieu of passive segments booking; rather they are encouraging agents to increase passive segments booking through incentives. MH urged that all airlines should take up this issue with their agents; otherwise the silent ones will be left to bear the brunt of enhanced abuse by travel agents.
   AF will take the lead in charting follow-up actions through the subcommittee which will meet soon for this purpose.
    

5. YIC ACTIVITIES
   Mr Saud Irgsous (SV) gave a briefing on the YIC activities and meetings held after the last BARSA meeting and announced the schedule of forthcoming YIC meetings.
   BARSA Vice Chairman urged the participation of higher level management like Sales Managers and Country Managers rather than other staff without decision-making authority.
    

6. SAUDIZATION OF TRAVEL MARKET IN KSA
   GF brought up the topic of Saudization of travel market by 35% as a government requirement and elaborated that the Chamber of Commerce will provide the number of trainees required in various categories with 75% payment by the government and 25% by the airline/travel agency for one year of training after which the company has the flexibility to absorb as regular staff or reject if unsuitable.
   QR added that performance and attendance are monitored during the training period and replacement is possible if unsatisfactory. QR's experience is positive in this regard. AF stated that they used a lot of resources for training including abroad, but faced turnover before paying
   back the money spent on training and as such contracts should be made for continued service for at least 3 years after training. AF has positive experience with native employees with travel agency experience; however, salary discrimination is necessary to keep Saudi employees which is creating a problem.
   GF alerted that the Saudization process started 9 years before and the policy will be strictly enforced now.
    

7. JOINT BAR MEETINGS WITHIN THE GCC
   GF suggested to have joint BAR meetings in different GCC locations in rotation every six months. Dr Al-Amri thanked GF for this suggestion which was well accepted by the gathering as a means to promote sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences.
    

8. JED AOC CHAIRMAN'S FEEDBACK
   Mr Ahmed Sheriff (GF), the new JED AOC Chairman, informed that the current priority is to work on improvements in services and safety. The Airport Authority has approved the renovation of the North Terminal based on the experience of inconvenience to passengers in general and during Hajj operation in particular. Mr Sheriff solicited cooperation and support of all airlines by paying all the outstanding bills in order to facilitate financing of the improvements. He informed that an updated directory of airport managers will be published soon, answered queries from airline representatives and took note of their comments and suggestions for improvement.
   A commemorative memento was presented to the outgoing JED AOC Chairman Mr Ahmed AlIdrissi, currently Area Manager of QR, in appreciation of his excellent performance during his tenure.
    

9. BARSA SUBSCRIPTION FEE
   BARSA Treasurer Mr Abi Allam read out the names of the 18 airlines which have paid the BARSA subscription fees for 2004 and urged all the others to make prompt payment.
    

10. BARSA FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE
    In order to evaluate the performance of BARSA and invite suggestions for further improvements, a questionnaire was distributed to each participant for completion and return.
     

The meeting was held in a very cordial and conducive atmosphere with frank and free exchange of views and was closed with a prayer/lunch break.

• OFFICIALS
   

  Mr Hamza M. Sharif (GF)	Vice Chairman
  Dr Ayed T. Al-Amri (SV)	General Secretary
  Mr Abdo Abi Allam (AF)	Treasurer
  Mr Fahad Al-Sabhani (SV)	Assistant General Secretary

• AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVES
   

  AF	Mr Frank Martin	General Manager
  AH	Mr A. Yahiaovi	Area Manager
  AI	Mr P. Ashok Kumar Mr Saadat A. Khan	Manager Western Saudi Arabia Sales Manager Western Saudi Arabia
  AT	Mr  Hamdy Yousuf	Assistant General Manager
  AZ	Mr Iqbal Miyajiwala	Manager for Kuwait, KSA & Yemen
  BA	Mr Richard Hirsch	Country Manager
  BI	Mr Y.A. Javeed	Country Manager KSA
  B8	Mr Tewolde Gabriel	General Manager Saudi Arabia
  CY	Mr George Kapello	Country Manager
  D3	Mr Ibrahim J. Ahmed	Area Manager
  EK	Mr Amer Akhtar	Sales Manager (WP)
  ET	Mr Mussa Yusuf	Manager Airport Services
  GF	Mr Ahmed Sheriff	JED AOC Chairman
  IR	Mr Jalil Ammarlou	Area Manager
  IY	Mr Abdullah Aldailami	Sales Manager
  KL	Mr Noman Syed	District-in-Charge
  KU	Mr Muteb Alajmi Mr Muneer Ahmed	Senior Manager District Sales Manager
  LH	Mr Peter Daniel	Regional Manager
  LX	Mr Rolf Koller Mr Manuel Staerkle	General Manager Area Manager
  ME	Mr Ayman Omairi	Sales Devpt. Manager
  MH	Mr Shahrunnawi	Sales Manager
  MS	Mr Youssef Gool	Sales Manager
  PK	Mr Salim Nisar Mr Asim Baber	General Manager Saudi Arabia Asst. Manager Saudi Arabia
  QR	Mr Ahmed Al-Idrissi	Area Manager KSA
  RB	Mr Nassib Samadi Mr Syed Usmanal	Regional Manager Sales Manager
  RJ	Mr Samiran Bose	Manager Marketing & Sales
  SA	Mr Thabit M. Refae Mr Kamal A. Bari	Chief Adviser Middle East Station Manager
  SD	Mr A/Rahman Elfadul	Station Manager
  SQ	Mr Sher Khan	General Manager Middle East
  SV	Mr Saud Irgsous Mr Syed Aboobacker P. Thangal	Chairman YIC Sr. Spclst. Bil. & Cml. Agrmts
  TK	Mr Ismail Turan	Country Manager
  UL	Mr Chinthaka Bandara	Sales Executive (WP)
  WY	Mr Saleh Issa Alkindy	Country Manager KSA

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