Airfasttickets suspended by international air transport authority

Airfasttickets has been the target of Greek and international media accusing the fast-growing online travel agency for unfair competition and bringing to the spotlight complains that include non-refunded tickets after they were cancelled by the company.

Amid the high tourist season, Airfasttickets has been on the spot of attention, after several Greek electronic travel agencies such as pamediakopes.gr, viva.gr, airtickets.gr and travelplanet24.gr, filed a suit against the company for unfair competition practices and selling tickets at lower than wholesale prices.

The Greek-owned company was recently awarded by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the most rapidly developed SME in Greece. However, the founder and alleged chairman of the company, Nikos Koklonis, did not attend the ceremony.

Furthermore, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has blocked the company from all ticket services in Greece, Germany and the United Kingdom saying AirfastTickets owes money to the Airline companies.

“Thousands of holidaymakers who booked with a discount online travel agent are being urged to check directly with airlines that their tickets are valid,” warned BBC.

Airfasttickets has definitely  created a brand after running a very aggressive advertising campaign in key places around the world. In case you visit the New York City subway or the London Cube, it is impossible not to see one of the company’s advertisements. The dynamic startup company has made its appearance in the market two years ago, by offering fares at the lowest prices in the market.

The company’s about statement speaks to a traveler’s heart noting that the founder himself was an unsatisfied customer of travel agencies and decided to start Airfasttickets.

“One day in 2009, Nikos Koklonis, was planning a trip. After spending many tiring hours researching and booking his trip, Nikos had become frustrated with the whole process. Filled with passion, he vowed to create a better way. So on the flight home with only a napkin, a pen, and a dream, he plotted a travel revolution that would empower consumers and businesses across the world. Soon after, he founded AirFastTickets, and the adventure had begun…”

And the adventure continues…

Greek newspaper “To Vima,” in a critical article that poses serious questions on the way Airfasttickets operates says the company has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States.

“In the US however, there are three different companies under the same name (airfasttickets Inc.) in three different states: Florida, New York and Texas. It seems though that there is no evident correlation among them and no correlation with the UK airfasttickets Inc. company. This means that—in legal terms – the term ‘group of companies’  is false.”

The company’s initial share capital is 60,000 euros and from 2012 there has been no recorded capital increase, which raises the question as to how the company would be listed in Nasdaq, as it has been announced.

Airfasttickets sells tickets in very low prices, lower than any other rival company and often lower that the airlines’ websites. After IATA blocked its access, Airfasttickets continued to make ticket bookings through other travel agencies. The outstanding debt of the company to IATA is estimated at more than 45 million euros. If this debt is not paid back, then IATA will request the “freezing” of all its bank accounts.

IATA has issued a warning to all travel agencies in the UK to avoid transactions with airfasttickets, after several passengers complained that they did not receive a refund when they had to cancel their tickets.

Moreover, Greek courts have ruled in favor of the Greek travel agencies’ suit and have issued a temporary order that suspends airfasttickets activities in Greece.

A search in online forums shows customers posing major complains about the company, often talking of ticket cancelations after they were booked and not being given the advertised prices by the site.

A Greek Reporter employee trying to book an airfare to New York was not able to buy the advertised ticket price after 16 failed attempts to book the ticket. The site would always give out a warning and offer a much higher price to the user after clicking the ‘buy’ button. An Airfasttickets customer service representative said that this was caused because the system is updated every 15 minutes by the airlines and within that time window this price difference may occur. Ten hours later the website was acting in the exact same way.

On the other hand there are also happy clients of Airfasttickets, including a frequent traveler from London to Athens who said that ” I am very happy with them. I have been using the site for the past year and never had a problem.”

Greek Reporter has contacted the company’s USA office and we were told that Airfasttickets will offer us a statement on the matter within 24 hours since the company’s CEO was in Greece and out of reach.

Source: Greek Reporter 

AITO and ABTA open letter to save the Greek tourism industry.

16th  March, 2012

Open letter to

Mr Lucas Papademos, Prime Minister, Greece

Mr Evangelos Venizelos, Finance Minister, Greece

Mr Pavlos Yeroulanous, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Greece

Respective members of the Troika

Our three organisations represent the UK travel industry - 844 tour operators and 3,547 travel

agents.  Many of our members actively sell holidays to Greece and have known and loved

Greece for many years; some specialise exclusively in holidays to Greece.

You must be aware that, over the last eight weeks or so, there have been many negative and

irresponsible comments made around the world by politicians, financial pundits and journalists

regarding the future of Greece.  

On several occasions, the same people who have been

working to solve the country’s problems have also been responsible for off-the-cuff negative

comments which have served to undermine their own work to find a solution.  Very positive

progress has been made in order to put the financial rescue package in place, but any hope of

growth is constantly undermined by these thoughtless and continued negative comments.  

There is no doubt that Greek citizens are now having to shoulder a financial burden which

would strike fear into the population of any other European member state.  Fears are being

voiced that the very harsh measures that have been put in place in order to reduce the country's

debt will lead to further negative growth and a continuation of the recession that has gripped

Greece for the last five years.  The human cost is high:  this will cause a good deal of personal

misery for people who have lost their jobs, their pensions and perhaps also their homes, and

who see no future for their children.

Tourism represents 18% of the country's gross national product and, as the country’s biggest

export, tourism is the key sector of the economy which will be responsible for breaking the

downward spiral.  

However, as a result of the constant negative publicity focused on Greece (which consumers

see as not just Athens but the islands too), consumers in the UK are choosing alternative

destinations in which to holiday in 2012.  Such a large decline in visitors from a major market

will further damage recovery of the Greek economy.

Action must be taken immediately – and, when we say immediately, we mean in the next few

weeks - to unlock funds for the promotion of Greece in the United Kingdom.  We ask that the

normal, monumental  bureaucracy which surrounds Greek Governmental procedures iscircumvented in this instance so that a positive promotional campaign, pointing out that Greece

is safe and that it has so much to offer the holidaymaker, can commence immediately.

Our tour operator members ask you, please, to match funds that we have still to spend

on marketing holidays to Greece, euro for euro.  If you match our own promotional

spend, this will double the marketing effect of whatever Greece itself spends.  It is also

vital to appoint a public relations agency with a brief to change the perception of Greece

as an unstable destination to visit for holidaymakers.

If funds for PR and promotional activity are not immediately forthcoming, then flight and

accommodation capacity will be cancelled by UK tour operators because they are currently

simply unable to sell the normal volume of holidays to Greece.  They will risk their own

continued existence if they don’t take such difficult steps speedily.

Greece needs positive promotion now and not in three months’ time, when it will be too

late.

This open letter asks you take immediate action if you really wish to safeguard the future of the

Greek people and of Greece itself.

Yours faithfully,

MARK TANZER                                                     DEREK MOORE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE                                               CHAIRMAN
ON BEHALF OF ABTA & FTO                              ON BEHALF OF AITO