Nowhere near on the scale of recent shenanigans involving Lufthansa, but another major carrier is trying to make life difficult for some intermediaries.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has changed its payment strategy for travel agencies in its home market so that it will no longer accept direct payments to the airline for tickets using credit cards.
The move by the airline is supposedly in an attempt to cut costs associated with payments.
Payments will now be made via an invoicing system between the intermediary and the airline.
Agencies are still able to search and book Aeroflot tickets via their distribution partners, including Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre, as well as local provider Sirena.
Some have wondered if the decision is the start of a initiative to mirror the strategy of German carrier Lufthansa to impose a Euro 16 levy on every ticket booked via the GDS.
But insiders have indicated the exercise is solely, at this stage, designed to cut down on the fees the airline has to pay for credit card transactions, rather than a larger question mark raised about its cost of distribution via GDSs.
It is also purely a local issue, it appears, with travel agencies outside of the country still able to search, book and pay for fares using a company or individual's credit card.
An Aeroflot official says:
"Aeroflot has recently introduced a change in payment options that affects the way travel agents selling tickets in Russia handle purchases made using credit cards.
"In line with recent similar decisions by a number of leading global carriers, travel agents rather than the airline will now be responsible for fees related to card payments.
"Aeroflot would like to stress that passengers will not be affected by this technical issue. Moreover, we would like to state that we have no plans either to cease taking GDS bookings or to stop accepting payment by credit card."
NB: Aeroflot image via Shutterstock.