SKYTOOL: meno costi, più controllo e marginalità nella distribuzione aerea.
I payment costs directly impact the profitability of air distribution, SKYTOOL offre ai Consolidatori di biglietteria aerea un vantaggio che va oltre la semplice emissione dei bigliettiBy integrating bookings, collections, payments, and business rules into a single platform, it allows you to automate financial controls, reduce operational errors, and improve the management of affiliated agencies. The ability to use different payment instruments, pre-check issuance conditions, and maintain control of your network helps protect margins and streamline processes. An integrated management model that transforms airline ticketing into a tool for efficiency, control, and competitiveness.
Airlines are seeking new solutions to reduce financing fees, while consolidators and agencies are addressing the same challenge through integrated collection and payment management systems. Technological advances could change not only costs but also the balance of airline distribution.
On October 27, 2026, during the World Financial Symposium in Macau, IATA drew attention to an economic problem of considerable proportions: nel 2025 le compagnie aeree hanno sostenuto 24,5 miliardi di dollari di costi legati ai pagamenti, out of total sales of $1.05 trillion. Of this, $20.7 billion is related to commissions and direct transaction costs, while the remainder includes operating expenses, fraud, and lost revenue.
For an industry characterized by low margins, reducing these costs is an understandable goal. However, the issue becomes more interesting when considering how IATA intends to address it and what implications it could have for other market players.
The future of air payments, in fact, could concern not only the cost of transactions, but also the control of financial flows along the entire distribution chain.
IATA Pay: una risposta ai costi o l’inizio di una strategia più ampia?
Tra le soluzioni proposte dall’associazione figura IATA Pay, un sistema basato sui trasferimenti diretti tra conti bancari, che utilizza tecnologie di open banking e infrastrutture di pagamento istantaneo. Il passeggero può autorizzare il pagamento attraverso la propria banca, mentre la compagnia beneficia di una conferma rapida dell’operazione e di un sistema di regolamento alternativo ai tradizionali circuiti delle carte.
According to IATA, this modality can allow una riduzione fino al 99% delle commissioni di elaborazione rispetto ai pagamenti con carta, although the result depends on the operating conditions and the systems used.
IATA Pay is already available in 34 countries through 38 payment systems, according to data released in October 2026. However, its actual market penetration remains unclear, as geographic coverage and the number of airlines offering the service do not necessarily indicate how many passengers use it or the actual financial volume involved.
It is therefore legitimate to ask whether the recent announcement on transaction costs could also contribute to strengthening the adoption of financial solutions developed by IATA itself. There is no evidence to attribute this specific intention to the association, but the relationship between the highlighted economic problem and the tools proposed to address it deserves attention.
On the other hand, IATA already has a vast financial settlement infrastructure in place through the BSP and other systems dedicated to the airline industry. Expanding its payment solutions could represent a further step toward greater financial process integration, without necessarily implying the intention of assuming a traditional banking role.
Intermediated distribution: when the problem concerns consolidators and agencies
The picture changes when we look at the professional distribution market, where the economic relationship is not limited to the payment between the passenger and the airline.
A travel agency can collect the customer's fee and entrust the ticket issuance to a consolidator, who in turn manages the financial relationship with the carrier according to the various methods provided for by the distribution system. Agency collections, payments to the consolidator and settlements to the company are distinct but closely related transactions., each with its own conditions, responsibilities and costs.
For sales settled through the BSP as Cash, the accredited consolidator typically handles payment via bank transfers or direct debits, without incurring the credit card fees for that step. However, when the ticket is issued directly using the passenger's card as per the airline's acceptance contract, collection occurs through the carrier's financial system, with different rules and costs.
For consolidators, however, one of the most economically relevant aspects concerns precisely collection from affiliated agencies, especially when the number of transactions is high and the overall value of the ticket sales far exceeds the margins achieved.
A 1.5-1.7% fee applied to the entire collected amount can have a significant impact. The use of wallets, electronic deposits, and preferential banking agreements can offer significantly more favorable terms, sometimes in the range of 0.2-0.3% in specific commercial agreements. These are not generalized rates, but rather examples that demonstrate how the choice of collection method can impact the economics of consolidation.
Furthermore, the benefit isn't limited to commission savings. The ability to automatically verify payments, track agencies' financial availability, and authorize issuances according to predefined rules reduces administrative burdens and improves financial control across the entire network.
SKYTOOL: quando il ticketing diventa gestione integrata degli incassi e dei pagamenti
It is precisely from this perspective that the evolution of technological platforms takes on a broader meaning.
Many simplified ticketing systems are designed primarily to facilitate flight searches, reservation management, and ticket issuance. When these solutions don't integrate financial functions, collections verification, payment control, and transaction reconciliation must be managed through external tools or separate administrative procedures.
SKYTOOL, sviluppato da Infotech, affronta il problema attraverso un modello differente, nel quale la gestione della biglietteria viene collegata direttamente ai processi economici e alle regole commerciali del consolidatore.
The platform SKYTOOL 4 Consolidator It allows you to integrate search, booking, issuing, and collection management in a coordinated operating environment, in which each affiliated agency can be associated with specific commercial conditions, credit availability, payment methods, and authorizations.
Through integration with banking circuits, online collection systems, deposits and wallets, SKYTOOL It allows you to automate much of the financial checks that accompany ticket sales. The issue may be subject to actual collection, availability of credit or compliance with the economic conditions established by the consolidator., reducing the need for manual intervention and the risks arising from incorrectly authorised operations.
The difference compared to a platform focused solely on ticketing functions lies precisely in the continuity of the process. The agency's request, the verification of financial availability, the application of commercial conditions, the verification of payment, and the issuance are organized within a single platform. organic workflow connecting agency, consolidator and airline.
SKYTOOL It does not replace banks, financial operators or IATA settlement systems, but integrates their available functions into the consolidator's operational process, allowing the economic stages of distribution to be governed through automated rules and controls.
This approach can impact the network's competitiveness: the consolidator maintains a structured view of collections and issuances, while agencies can operate according to faster procedures and contractually defined financial conditions, with less risk of error.
The value of technology is therefore not limited to the speed with which a ticket is issued, but extends to the ability to control what happens before, during, and after each transaction.
Preventive payment control and ADM risk reduction
One of the most delicate aspects of air distribution concerns the payment methods authorized by individual companies.
Each carrier can determine which networks, card types, and terms of use are accepted for issuing its tickets. The rules may vary depending on the company, market, and commercial agreements, making it particularly important to verify the payment methods used by affiliated agencies in advance.
La normativa IATA, attraverso la Resolution 890 e il BSP Manual for Agents, prevede che l’utilizzo di carte non accettate dal vettore possa comportare contestazioni e addebiti mediante Agency Debit Memo (ADM).
For a consolidator managing numerous agencies, even a seemingly simple error in card selection can therefore have financial and administrative consequences.
SKYTOOL integra controlli configurabili sulle Form of Payment (FOP), permettendo di stabilire quali modalità siano utilizzabili in funzione delle regole delle compagnie e delle autorizzazioni delle singole agenzie. The system can proactively block transactions that do not comply with the set conditions, helping to reduce the risk of ADM arising from the use of unauthorized payment instruments.
This is not a guarantee against any dispute, but a prevention system that intervenes before issuance, preventing the control from being delegated exclusively to subsequent checks.
Automation thus takes on a value that goes beyond simple time savings, because it helps protect the consolidator's profitability, improve network reliability, and contain costs resulting from operational errors.
Two paths to the same evolution?
L’attenzione crescente di IATA verso i pagamenti e le soluzioni sviluppate da piattaforme come SKYTOOL mostrano come il mercato stia affrontando una trasformazione che interessa l’intera gestione economica della biglietteria aerea.
IATA is expanding the tools available to reduce airlines' collection costs and improve cash flow management through systems such as IATA Pay, IATA Financial Gateway, and IATA EASY PAY. Consolidators, at the same time, need to manage their financial relationships with their agencies, negotiate favorable banking terms, and ensure that each issue complies with the required commercial and financial rules.
The two strategies are not necessarily competing, because they operate at different levels of distribution and could find a common ground in interoperability.
The question is whether in the coming years we will see greater integration between financial infrastructures, ticketing platforms, and merchant management systems, or whether a growing portion of payment functions will tend to be concentrated within the ecosystems developed by the major industry players.
In this scenario, the technological autonomy of consolidators could become even more important. The ability to integrate different financial instruments, maintain preferential banking agreements, and independently define their own network rules represents a strategic element, especially in a market where margin optimization requires increasingly precise process control.
Reducing costs, but for whom?
The IATA statement raises a concrete economic issue, but addresses it primarily from the airlines' point of view, consistent with the association's mission.
A reduction in costs incurred by carriers does not automatically produce an equivalent benefit for consolidators, agencies and travellers, just as the adoption of more convenient financial instruments by intermediaries does not necessarily lead to direct savings for companies.
The central theme could therefore be the ability to build systems in which economic and operational benefits are distributed along the entire supply chain, respecting the different responsibilities and commercial conditions.
Technologies such as open banking, instant payments, and integrated platforms can make transactions more efficient, but their value will also depend on the transparency of conditions, the freedom of choice for operators, and the ability to maintain control over one's financial relationships.
The question of consumer guarantees also remains open, especially when direct payments between bank accounts replace instruments that require specific dispute procedures through card networks.
The future of payments will be a matter of control
The airline industry is entering a phase where distribution, order management, payments, and financial settlements could become increasingly interconnected.
For companies, the advantage will be more efficient collections. For consolidators, the challenge will be to have tools capable of coordinating relationships with agencies, reducing financial costs, and preventing operational errors. For intermediaries, it will be equally important to maintain commercial autonomy and access to different payment methods.
The evolution of IATA Pay and the association's other financial infrastructures therefore deserves to be observed not only through the announced savings, but also considering the consequences for professional distribution.
Who will define the rules of payments in the coming years? How much room will there be for independent platforms and banking agreements negotiated by consolidators? And above all, who will truly benefit from the efficiencies generated by new technologies?
These are still open questions, to which the market will have to gradually provide answers.
Because, in a sector where the value of transactions is high and trade margins are often low, The real innovation may not simply be paying less, but knowing exactly how, when and under what conditions the money flows through the entire airline distribution chain.
Sources
- IATA, Payments Cost Airlines $24.5bn in 2025 — October 27, 2026.
- IATA, IATA Pay — operation and characteristics of the solution.
- IATA, BSP Manual for Agents — rules on payments and ADMs.
- Infotech – SKYTOOL, SKYTOOL 4 Consolidator — payment, collection and control functions.
- Aviation Business News, Airline payment costs exceed profits, IATA figures reveal — October 29, 2026.
- Travolution, IATA works with Outpayce to help airlines accept account-to-account payments — September 5, 2024.
- PhocusWire, PhocusWire’s travel tech news briefs: Outpayce and IATA Pay — September 6, 2024.
By Guido Deiana and Daniele Di Stefano
