IATA achieves BSP milestone

SINGAPORE International Air Transport Association announced, Tuesday, the adoption of resolutions supporting the development of the New Generation of IATA Settlement Systems known as NewGen ISS.

IATA Settlement Systems are the financial back office of the air transport industry.

Since its introduction 45 years ago, the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) has facilitated the distribution and settlement of funds between travel agents and airlines, totalling more than USD230 billion in 2015. Now it is scheduled for some major improvements.

IATA said the one-size-fits-all model launched in 1971 no longer fits today’s vastly different operating environment.

“NewGen ISS will ensure that IATA’s Passenger Agency Programme continues to deliver enormous value to airlines and travel agents by providing more flexibility and options with greater financial security,” said IATA senior vice president for financial and distribution services, Aleks Popovich.

The resolution paves the way for the introduction of NewGen ISS options for agents. They include:

IATA EasyPay – a voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet payment solution for issuance of airline tickets in the BSP.

Global Default Insurance – an optional financial security alternative to bank guarantees for travel agents.

Another feature of NewGen ISS is a new risk management framework to enable safer selling and mitigate default losses in the BSP.

A joint travel agent and airline working group was established to define a proposal by early next year.

The related resolution text will be voted on at a conference scheduled for 2017.

“We are taking a working-together approach to this important pillar of NewGen ISS in order to respond to travel agent requirements for flexibility while creating a structure that enables safer selling and greater protection of ticket funds,” said Popovich.