How to Establish an Agency for Airline Ticket Sales?

Establishing an agency for airline ticket sales offers many opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to operate in the sector, but various issues such as legal processes, licensing and commercial requirements need to be considered. The steps to be followed in the agency establishment process and the relevant regulations are as follows:

1. Legal Basis and Licensing

Airline ticket sales agents must fulfil certain legal requirements and obtain the relevant licences in order to operate. In Turkey, there are two important authorised institutions in this regard:

DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation): It is the institution that regulates the licence and permit processes related to airline transport. Certain requirements and application process for agencies that will sell airline tickets are managed by this institution.

IATA (International Air Transport Association): IATA, an international organisation, provides accreditation for airline ticket agencies to operate globally. Being a member of IATA offers agencies a wide global network and reliability.

Businesses wishing to establish an agency must meet the requirements of DGCA and IATA and operate in accordance with the conditions set by these institutions.

2. Application and Licence Process

The steps to be followed in the process of establishing an airline ticket agency are as follows:

Trade Registry Registration: The first step in the process of establishing an agency is the registration of the relevant business to the Trade Registry. This process is a basic requirement for the agency to operate officially.

DGCA Application: It is necessary to apply to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and obtain permission to sell airline tickets. In this application, information such as the financial status of the business, organisational structure, office areas should be presented. DGCA conducts the necessary examinations to ensure that the business can operate in accordance with the law.

IATA Accreditation: Agencies aiming to become an IATA member should apply to IATA and start the accreditation process. IATA considers criteria such as financial reliability, experience in the sector and operational competence when evaluating applications.

Agency Certification: During the application process, the agency must have certain certificates. DGCA and IATA also evaluate the competences of the personnel who will manage the ticket sales processes.

Legal entities wishing to apply for an agency title, which will be the basis for the travel agency operating certificate request, apply to the Ministry to obtain a travel agency title with a petition prepared by the Ministry or a petition prepared by the applicant in accordance with the requested information and a document regarding the name registration, if any.

Information to be Included in the Petition

In the petition, the name, surname, signature, title, telephone and fax numbers, open address information, DATE OF APPLICATION (It must be written in order to make an enquiry from the title application tracking screen) and the stamp of the legal entity shall be included.

In the application for a new travel agency to be established, the title of the legal entity is written in the agency title section of the printed petition, and the document number section is left blank.

Petitions without the name, surname and signature of the person representing the legal entity and the company stamp are not processed.

The Agency Title Request Form prepared by the Ministry or to be prepared by the applicant is filled in order of priority.

The evaluation will be made in order, and when the title deemed appropriate is determined, the other requested titles will not be considered. (For example, if the title in the 3rd place in a form filled with 6 titles is deemed appropriate; the titles in the 4th and 5th places will not be considered). This issue should be taken into consideration when filling out the form.

The titles to be requested can also be specified in the petition without the need for a Title Request Form.

Application Attachments

• Bank receipt (signed by the bank official with wet signature) showing that the application fee of 25.000 TL (Twenty Five Thousand) has been deposited to the IBAN account numbered TR35 0001 0017 4503 4831 7055 39 on behalf of the company,
• A copy of the pages of the Trade Registry Gazette of the company,
• Original or copy of the Trade Registry Certificate in case it has not yet been published in the Trade Registry Gazette,
• Original or copy of signature circular
• In order to evaluate the request of legal entities wishing to establish a new agency, the above-mentioned petition, title request form and annexes must be delivered to the Ministry by hand or by post. The title, which is examined by the Ministry and deemed appropriate, is notified in writing to the requester (via PTT (Postal Service) with return receipt to the address specified in the application) and the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB).

After the agency is established, an application will be made for TURSAB membership. This application procedure is as follows;

The legal person who wants to obtain a travel agency business certificate applies to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to obtain a travel agency title with a petition and a document regarding the trademark registration, if any. For information about the application: https:// yigm.ktb.gov.tr/

T.C. Within 30 (Thirty) days from the notification to the applicant that the agency title is deemed appropriate by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, an application is made to TÜRSAB with the relevant postal notification document and the documents specified below.

After the examination and evaluation to be made by TÜRSAB in the content of the application file, a workplace conformity audit is carried out by our Association at the address notified. If the examination, evaluation and inspection of the application file and the address are in accordance with the relevant legislation, the ‘member registration fee’ and ‘annual dues fee’ are requested in writing from the applicant.

In order to complete the membership procedures of our Association, the person or persons authorised to represent and bind the applicants who have paid the member registration fee within the specified period are required to attend the NEWLY ESTABLISHED AGENTS INFORMATION MEETING where the activities of our Association are introduced by the relevant managers. For this reason, applicants who fulfil the meeting information payment responsibility are called to the meeting in order.

TÜRSAB notifies the Ministry of its opinion regarding the applications that fulfil the above requirements. For applications that are not deemed appropriate by TÜRSAB, the reason for non-conformity is stated to the applicant. T.C. In case of any deficiency as a result of the examination carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, this deficiency is notified to TÜRSAB.

If the application is deemed appropriate by the Ministry, an Authority Approval is prepared for the issuance of a ‘Travel Agency Business Certificate’. After the Approval of the Authority, the Travel Agency Operating Certificate is issued and notified to TÜRSAB. The issued business certificate is sent by the Ministry to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism to be delivered to the applicant.

TÜRSAB membership is finalised with the issuance of the business certificate by the Ministry. The year of issue of the certificate is taken as basis in determining the membership fee.

Required Documents

1.  Application Petition
2. Original Trade Registry Certificate
3. Current Trade Registry Certificate containing the address and representation authorities of the applicant legal entity
4. ( Annex-2) Original Criminal Record Declaration
5. T.R. Identity Number and Criminal Record Declaration in Annex-2 of the members of the board of directors and the person or persons authorised to represent the company in joint stock companies, managers and the person or persons authorised to represent in limited liability companies
6. Original or Notarised Copy of Signature Circular
7. Original Travel Agency Establishment Guarantee
8. The original letter of guarantee to be issued in accordance with Article 29 and in the amount of Article 30 of the Regulation on Travel Agencies and the Association of Travel Agencies or; The original transaction receipt (stamped and signed by the relevant bank) must be submitted to the account numbered 350 154 021-9 (IBAN NO: TR 890 000 100 100 000 350 154 021) of the Central Treasury Directorate of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at the Central Bank Ankara Branch of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from the account of the applicant legal entity.
9.  ( Annex-1) Original Agency Title Undertaking It is a letter of undertaking that the title of the agency may be changed if deemed necessary by the Ministry.
10.  Certificate of mandatory personnel to be employed in the Travel Agency At least one staff with one of the following qualifications shall be employed in the headquarters and branches of the travel agency.
11. In the field of hotel management and tourism; the original or certified copy of the document showing the graduation of those who have completed vocational high school, associate degree or undergraduate education
12. Original foreign language success certificate for information officer
13. Original or certified copy of the guidance certificate issued by the Ministry (In group C travel agencies, those who have a certificate of achievement as an information officer can be employed instead of the personnel who have the qualifications specified in the first paragraph).
14. SSI Employment Entry Declaration showing that the personnel whose documents are submitted are working within the company or SSI Insured Service List of the applicant legal entity for the last period
15. ( Annex-3) Statement regarding the personnel to be employed Original
16.  Original Travel Agency Information Update Form
17.   (Annex-4) Original Trade Registry Gazette Declaration
18.  If the legal entity is a limited liability company, a statement containing the date and number of the Trade Registry Gazette showing the Company Agreement and its Partners and Managers, if it is a joint stock company, the date and number of the Trade Registry Gazette showing the Articles of Association and the Board of Directors Information and Representative Authorities.
    

Requested Forms and Petitions

1. Annex – 1

2. Annex – 2

3. Annex – 3

4. Annex – 4

5. Travel Agency Information Update Form

6. New Document Application Petition

7. Letter of Guarantee Sample

8. Signature Circular; The original or notarised copy of the document containing the signature samples of the representative of an institution or organisation.

9. Trade Registry Certificate; Registry Certificate issued according to Article 16 of the Trade Registry Regulation;
MERSIS number, Trade name, In real person commercial enterprises, the name and surname, place of residence and identification number of the business owner, the headquarters of the enterprise, the headquarters address of the enterprise with the address of the branch in branches, the field of activity of the enterprise, the capital allocated to the enterprise, It is a document showing those who are authorised to represent the enterprise at the time the document is issued.

10. Guarantee

– If it will be given as a letter of guarantee, the agency title and trade title must be included in the definite and indefinite letter of guarantee.

– Guarantees other than letters of guarantee; The original receipt deposited to the ‘Collection Account TR89 0000 1001 0000 0350 1540 21 IBAN numbered’ account of the Central Treasury Directorate of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey or to the Central Accounting Unit of the Ministry or to the Central Accounting Unit of the Ministry through the accounting units of the general budget departments of the provinces or districts. (The original receipt must be stamped and signed, and in addition, it is obligatory to write the commercial title in the sender section of the receipt (in no way should there be a personal name), and in the explanation section, the agency title received from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey).

For group -A: 7.000,00.-TL (Seven thousand Turkish Liras)
for group -B: 6.000,00.-TL (Six thousand Turkish Liras)
For group -C: 5.000,00.-TL (Five thousand Turkish Liras)
and these amounts should be 25% for each branch.

Why Us?

As Güneş & Güneş Law Office, with our 25 years of experience and our services in 4 languages (English, German, Russian and Turkish), we offer you professional guidance with our expert and competent lawyers in the process of establishing an agency for ticket sales in the aviation sector. We provide all kinds of legal support for obtaining an agency licence for airline ticket sales, management of legal processes and entry into the sector, and all kinds of legal solutions against the problems encountered in these processes. We are at your side by offering the most effective and fast solutions for your business to grow safely in the aviation sector.

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