October this year，3 months after the implementation of the new voting policy，“Qunar.com” resumes full cooperation with airlines，At this time，Distance from China Southern Airlines、Hainan Airlines、Air China、China Eastern Airlines、Sichuan Airlines and other major domestic airlines have successively announced the suspension of cooperation with "Qunar.com"，More than half a year has passed。

“Conflict” in the first half of the year，Related to the changes and games in ticket pricing and sales channels。First half of this year，Airlines have been brewing changes in distribution policies，To try to establish a new industry standard in the air ticket sales market that is in chaos、Shorten the distribution chain，Reevaluate the value of ticket agents and OTAs，This also brings about the reconstruction of distribution channels and the reshuffling of various interest links。

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Early this year，It’s not so much that airlines collectively say no to “Qunar.com”，It is better to say that it is dissatisfaction with the illegal agents and supervision model on the "Qunar.com" platform。

The current ticket sales channels mainly include direct sales and distribution。In the past few years，The air ticket distribution market has established a set of "Qunar first、Ctrip follow up、The supplier model that Taobao imitates”，And it has become the “main theme” of China’188bet app s civil aviation ticket distribution market。

According to relevant statistics，In the online ticket booking transaction volume of more than 340 billion last year，Qunar and Ctrip contributed more than half of the transaction volume，Left far behind the direct sales channels of airlines。Including more than 340 billion，The total transaction volume of the entire air ticket booking market last year reached 447.3 billion yuan，Based on the growth rate in recent years, it is expected to exceed the 500 billion mark this year。

Different from traditional ticket sales agents，“Qunar.com” adopts the “platform building” model，First, more and more ticket agents are gathered to sell on the platform，After，Hainan Airlines、China Southern Airlines、Airlines such as China Eastern Airlines have also begun to enter the website and mobile terminal of "Qunar.com"，Selling air tickets in the form of "flagship store"。

Currently，Only about 25% of the tickets of many traditional airlines are sold through direct sales，This also includes tickets sold through OTA platform flagship stores such as Qunar，In recent years，Through the airline’s official website、APP、WeChat and other platforms strengthen direct sales，This is what airlines have always been trying to do。

In order to strengthen direct sales，Airlines increasingly leave the best fares to their own official website sales。For example, in June last year, China Southern Airlines was the first to make the “lowest member price” commitment，Air China and China Eastern Airlines followed suit。China Southern Airlines also announced massive discounts on domestic air tickets with discounts of up to 40% off，Only sold exclusively through China Southern’s official channels，Official channels include China Southern Airlines official website、APP、Official WeChat，Means that ticket agents are not authorized to sell China Southern tickets with a discount of less than 40%。

Also，Traditional commissions earned by 188bet sports betting app download agents selling tickets，It has also dropped from the highest 10% to the current zero。And in February this year，Notice on Issues Concerning Domestic Air Passenger Transport Sales Agency Handling Fees issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice")，This is a heavy blow to air ticket agents whose profits are gradually shrinking。

The "Notice" requires air transport companies to entrust sales agents to sell domestic passenger tickets，The benchmark quota for passenger transport fees must be reasonably determined，Can float appropriately，This is for ticket agents，It is a major change in the revenue model，Meaning that you get a certain rebate from every ticket sold (now only the back rebate is left)，Change to give a certain fixed reward for every ticket sold。

China Southern Airlines is the first airline to refine its plan in accordance with the "Notice"，Subsequently，Other airlines are also following suit。From July 1, 2016，The agency fee issuance standard has officially changed from front-and-back refund to fixed amount，Meanwhile，Including Ctrip、Alibaba and other platforms，All air ticket products that are not self-operated agents have also been removed from the shelves。

The dispute between direct selling and distribution

It can be said，Airlines are currently making every effort to develop their own online channels，Competing with OTA platforms is also a game in a sense - it requires OTA’s sales to customers，We also hope that more customers will come to our official website to book tickets。

At the "2016 China Aviation Marketing Summit Forum" held not long ago，Huang Feng, deputy general manager of Air China Sales Department, revealed，Air China’s agent policy、After adjustment and control of distribution channels，Airline direct sales、OTA platforms, TMC and other channels have experienced varying degrees of growth，The proportion of traditional agency channels is declining。

Zhu Yuebo, deputy general 188bet online sports betting manager of the Sales Department of China Southern Airlines, also has a similar view: "Currently including OTA flagship stores，China Southern’s direct sales account for more than 40%，Airline marketing channels are developing in a flat direction，Previous ticket agency channels were confusing，A ticket from the airline to the customer，It takes seven or eight steps to change hands，means there are seven or eight agents in the middle，De-platforming、After leveling the agency fee，Will shorten the path of tickets from airlines to consumers。”

However，It is not easy to increase direct sales。The management of an airline company in charge of direct sales told reporters，Add telephone and other call centers，And website sales、The establishment of a payment system requires costs，As the scale increases, it may be higher than the commission paid to the agent，Also，Compared with many mature ticket agents and OTAs，Airline website sales customer experience is also relatively inferior，For example, it is difficult to cancel or change a ticket，No hotel、Car rental，And rich one-stop services such as air tickets + hotels。This has also resulted in the increase in the proportion of airline ticket direct sales in recent years not being as fast as expected。

“Although airlines led by the three major state-owned airlines are increasing their direct sales efforts，But purely relying on its own official website、Direct sales channels such as APP are also unrealistic，On the one hand, direct selling also has costs，On the other hand, the price comparison platform with more comprehensive air ticket products is more convenient for consumers to search，In comparison，Have a more efficient way to compare prices、Better after-sales service、Smoother booking process，And a more complete one-stop travel solution similar to flight + wine + X will be more popular with consumers。" Industry expert Lin Zhijie also told reporters。

Teng Yang, deputy general manager of Western Airlines 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino Marketing and Sales Department, said frankly，The company’s current direct sales ratio is 70%，Official website accounts for 65%，Only 5% of tickets go through OTA’s flagship stores and counters、Sold by call center。“But inside the 65%，Probably less than 10% of genuine direct sales passengers，The rest are all done by agents。Just adjust the price on the official website to the lowest，Those who move bricks will go to the official website to move them，And we didn’t touch the passengers at all，There is no way to express the company’s philosophy、The product is completely conveyed to the passengers。”

“The next 3~5 years，Airlines and OTAs should coexist harmoniously，Each has its own strengths。"Li Yi, general manager of Shenzhen Aviation Product Management Center, expected，Users compare prices online，After purchasing air tickets and products online, I will return to the airline for all aspects、System、Truly seamless scene-based services，Airlines should work hard on scenario-based services。

And for traditional agents，There is no room for survival。A veteran in the industry who calls himself a "civil aviation veteran" pointed out to reporters，If you compare airlines to specialty stores、If OTA is compared to a supermarket hypermarket，Traditional agents can actually be transformed into “convenience stores”，“So when traditional agents think about how to transform，Need to adjust measures to local conditions，Positioned as ‘small but beautiful’，For example, international tickets are positioned to focus on one destination，Serve an industry well (conference、Professional TMC、Niche outdoor club)，Providing services to a community of acquaintances, etc.。”

*This article is reproduced from China Business News.

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