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Target Travel boss vanishes; leaves behind 10m in liabilities

The BSP (Bank Settlement Plan), IATA, confirmed that Saeed Parker, the Indian owner of the travel agency, which has two branches in Dubai, had over-stretched on ticket sales, but declined to give further details. “We know that nearly 40-50 airlines, the bank and the agency’s employees are affected. We can only say that he disappeared before the second billing cycle was due to start, i.e. August 15. We are now dealing with the local owner who is very cooperative,” they said.

The Airline Investigation Panel (AIP) for the Gulf area, based in Bahrain, also declined to give details when Khaleej Times spoke to them. “We apologise for not being in a position to assist you in this matter as we have not received complete information in this regard,” AIP officials said.

AIP is the authority, which gives accreditation to travel agencies, checks their balance sheets and monitors their activities.

A senior travel agent, who did not wish to be named, said: “According to market news, we know that this particular agent was selling tickets at low costs for the past one year. Airlines were not taking any action against him, because they thought he was increasing their business. This had also made business difficult for us. Unfortunately, he has given a bad name to the industry, and we only know that he was an IATA-approved agent working in partnership with his wife.”

A spokesperson for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said they too were awaiting details from IATA. “The losses could be big for us too,” the spokesperson added.

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