Travel Agency IATA Numbers: What They Are & Certification Details

You might be wanting to start a travel agency and wondering how to get an IATA number. Or you might wonder what is an IATA number and why would you need an IATA number for a travel agency.

In this brief article, I’ll try and answer those questions for you as well as help you understand more about the costs to obtain an IATA license, and if you need any accreditation in order to do so.

Who is IATA?

By their own definition, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world's airlines, representing some 290 airlines. IATA is headquartered in Canada in the city of Montréal, with executive offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

What is an IATA number?

An agency IATA number is effectively an account number. It uniquely identifies a travel agency or other airline ticketing entity (even an airline’s own ticketing offices) within the IATA network.

There are two types of agency IATA numbers: full and partial. With a full IATA number in place, you are effectively ready to issue airline tickets on behalf of the airlines who authorise you to do so. Obtaining a full IATA number requires you to adhere to a strict list of criteria.

With a partial IATA number you still have a unique account number but you cannot issue airline tickets with this number. It is useful for things like identifying yourself to hotel and car hire companies, who might use this number to pay commissions due to your agency. Obtaining a partial IATA number is much simpler and typically requires the completion of a simple form. It is referred to as a TIDS (Travel Industry Designator Service) number.

There are also other licenses you can obtain, such as IATAN. More information can be found on the IATA website here.

Why do I need an IATA number for my agency?

If you want to issue airline tickets, you’ll need an IATA license. There are some airlines who don’t participate in IATA, mostly low cost carriers, but 84%+ of the world’s airlines operate via IATA.

You can opt to issue via another agency - commonly known as consolidators - but there are downsides to this process, most noteably the fees that agency might charge you for doing so. You could also sign up for an airline portal where they will then issue the ticket but a major drawback to this approach is that you don’t have a central system (eg. a Global Distribution System or GDS) for shopping and ticketing - you have to go to each airline’s website.

Your IATA number is used in the distribution of funds to and from the airlines. Remember we said it’s much like an account number? When you issue a ticket on an IATA number, there are systems in place which will allocate the funds due to the airline, the airports (for taxes etc) and others in the process all via your IATA number.

If you perform refunds or voiding of airline tickets, these also happen all via your IATA number. In fact, your IATA number is printed on all tickets issued by your office and all financial reporting by your performance per airline will be done based on your IATA numbers.

You can even have multiple IATA numbers within your agency - most commonly used to isolate financial reporting per ticketing location, and required if you have offices in multiple countries.

The above process therefore makes your agency liable for some of the values of the tickets you issue till such time as the ticketing payments are cleared. This is especially true when you issue tickets on a cash (as opposed to credit card) payment method. In this scenario, your agency collects the money from the traveller, holds onto it, and it gets taken from the agency via a local payment clearining process such as the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) or Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC).

To make sure your agency is in a good enough financial position to cover this liability, IATA will insist on a financial bond which will be calculated based on the ratio of cash vs credit card ticket sales done by your agency. This bond will be held in escrow for as long as your agency has an IATA license.

What do I need to have a full IATA license?

• Proof of general business operations. These could include proof of business registration, bank account registration, tax and other government registration of the agency and so forth.

• Proof of your qualifications. Regardless of whether you have multiple agents or you are a solo operator, you must submit a business license or copies of any certifications, such as agent training courses.

• Confirmation of prior travel agent experience. If you’ve previously collaborated with an IATA accredited agent or airline, then include this information in your application. If possible, attach a recommendation letter from that company or documentation of employment. Documents indicating a basic knowledge of airline and ticketing operations may be also attached.

• Proof of financial viability. You should supply travel-business-related bank transactions for the past year. Include loan or insurance documentation if you have any. All these records should be placed in chronological order. Detailed bank account records with deposits and withdrawals for the previous fiscal year are also required.

You can then proceed with your application, which could take anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks. It can take much longer if your supporting documentation is not complete. You can read more about this process on IATA’s website here.