How to open a railway ticket office. How to open an air ticket office? Business plan for an air ticket office: necessary documents and equipment

You will need

- room;
- trained personnel;
- safe equipment;
- access to online booking systems

Instruction

In order to be able to sell tickets, you must be a sub-agent or agent of the airline whose tickets you want to sell. All companies have different requirements. To become an agent of a foreign company, you must register as an accredited agent of the International Transport Association (IATA). This association puts forward rather strict requirements.

Get the most reliable safe equipment, because all airlines put forward security requirements that relate to the storage of special forms of the air carrier (stocks). The owners of these forms check the level of reliability of the safe equipment of the future client and all the conditions for storing and filling out the forms.

Hire qualified personnel or organize appropriate training followed by certification. The presence of good employees who have a lot of knowledge regarding air transportation is also one of the mandatory requirements.

For admission to IATA, a deposit of $20,000 is required. However, this is often not enough to become an agent of any particular airline, and you have to perform various additional terms which the air carrier may propose.

Get access to reservation systems (for example, Amadeus or Gabriel), which costs about $40-70 per month, plus $40-120 for a one-time connection (depending on the operator).

You can become an airline agent only when you have experience in organizing transfers and a client base, otherwise you simply will not arouse interest from.

Business features

So, is it profitable to open a ticket office and is it possible to make money on it? Transport companies offer a lot of options for air and railway communication from different points around the world, and millions of travelers buy tickets daily for desired flights.

But not every one of them is ready to risk the planned trip and buy a ticket just before boarding, not everyone has the time and opportunity to visit the airport ticket office in advance or railway station. Modern technologies allow you to organize the sale of tickets in remote, conveniently located points and build a profitable business on this.

Having wondered how to open an air ticket office, an entrepreneur must realistically assess his financial abilities, carefully study all the "pitfalls" of the enterprise.

Starting a "ticketing business" is associated with a number of specific problems:

Significant initial investment.
The need for significant advertising costs.
The presence of a wide network of contacts of large companies, agencies, tour operators, firms, etc.
Ability to maintain a competitive pricing policy.
Possible unprofitability in the first months of work.

Despite all the difficulties, many owners of successfully operating air ticket offices in Moscow and throughout the Russian Federation are confidently developing their projects, outlining the following prospects:

Wide opportunities for expanding activities.
High probability of interaction in related industries.
The ability to launch a project not only in major metropolis, but also in small town on the periphery, and even in the "home office" format on initial stage development through the use of the global network.

For those who are interested in taking a place in the promising niche of popular ticket sales services, who are ready to invest and work “for results”, opening an air ticket office is an excellent option for a profitable business start-up.

You can download and use the data as an example for your own project.

Principle of project implementation

You can organize and launch a "ticket business" in the following ways:

Conclusion of an agreement with the carrier company directly as an agent.
Subagency agreement with an airline representative.

The first option is the most profitable, since it implies the direct sale of tickets purchased from the carrier at the lowest cost. But for the conclusion agency agreement the entrepreneur must fulfill a number of high requirements:

Develop a business plan with a sound business case.
Arrange a cash register that meets company standards.
Hire qualified personnel.
Strictly fulfill the sales plan and obligations to purchase a certain amount of tickets from the supplier.

It is practically impossible to implement such conditions at the start of a business without a well-developed customer base and experience gained over the years. Therefore, entrepreneurs prefer to cooperate with the supplier's existing agents and build a business according to the following step-by-step scheme:

Conclusion of an agreement - before applying for a contract for the provision of services as a subagent, the entrepreneur is obliged to prepare a set of documents, which includes the constituent papers of the company, a certificate of state registration and registration with the tax control authorities, a written confirmation of the right to operate the cash desk. You also need to draw up a list of employees and attach documents confirming the qualifications of the personnel, obtain a conclusion on the compliance of the technical equipment and the arrangement of the point of sale of tickets with the prescribed requirements of the carrier.
Preparing the cash desk room - when arranging the interior Special attention you need to pay attention to the interior - it is better to arrange it in an unobtrusive light color, choose comfortable furniture, provide open access to flight schedule information, install a ventilation and air conditioning system. It is also necessary to take care of the safety of the premises, customers, employees and data - organize security, an alarm system, fire safety and video surveillance, install a police call button.
Purchase and installation of equipment for organizing sales - the cash desk must be equipped with personal computers, MFPs for printing documents and reporting (printers, scanners, copiers), telephones, devices for printing on tickets. A prerequisite for the supplier is the availability of a reliable floor safe for storing stocks (airline tickets) and financial assets. You also need to take care of special stands with up-to-date information for visitors and clients about the agency, the point's work schedule, and air transportation rules.
Recruitment and training of personnel - an entrepreneur must not only hire qualified employees, but also ensure that the personnel attend special training courses that are conducted by companies or their agents in order to train employees in effective sales, use of relevant software products.
Organization of access to the seat reservation system is carried out using the Amadeus, Selena, Gabriel, Galileo programs, the use of which is paid and ranges from 3 to 6 thousand rubles a month.
Accreditation is a necessary procedure as part of the registration and launch of a point of sale of air tickets - accreditation of the box office. To do this, it is necessary to submit to the Commission documents confirming the professional qualifications of the staff.
Promotion of the enterprise - you can expand the audience of consumers by posting information about the agency on pillars and billboards, in offices, metro, gas stations, etc. BTL marketers and outdoor advertising specialists will help organize an effective promotional campaign.

Entrepreneurs for whom the question of how to open an air ticket office is relevant can use this step by step instructions to launch your project effectively.

Video: how do air ticket offices work?

Financial calculations

Opening a cash desk for the sale of air tickets requires significant capital investments at the start.

Sub-agent points operating with high performance receive a reward for cooperation in the amount of up to 12%.

If we take into account payments to tax and other organizations, we can talk about the amount of net monthly income in the amount of up to 70,000 rubles.

But do not forget that the payback of this enterprise occurs no earlier than 6-8 months of its operation and depends on the level of competition in the place of location and the solvency of the city's population, the cost of fuel, and the influence of the tourist segment.

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Nowadays, you can purchase tickets by contacting any office of the tour operator or airline. Here you will be helped to choose the best option for the price and time. There are no longer such queues as in Soviet times, thanks to a sufficient number of cash desks.

Air ticket offices are found in large cities much more often than railway ones. This is explained by the fact that the Ministry of Railways is still a monopoly. At the stations, there are queues and a lot of resellers offering tickets for more popular flights.

Today in Russia 10-15% of all tickets are sold travel companies. The percentage increases if we talk about international travel. If you buy a ticket from a travel agency, it is not necessary to have a load as a ticket. 50-70% of the cost of the "package" are tickets. Air travel is much more important and more expensive than booking a hotel and organizing leisure activities.

From the outside, it may seem that you just need to rent a room and install a computer to open an air ticket office. In fact, everything is much more complicated. The most important thing here is information. The organization of access to information sources includes many harsh conditions. To sell plane tickets, you must be an agent or sub-agent of the airline whose tickets you are going to sell. All companies have their own requirements. In order to become an agent of a foreign company, you need to register as an accredited agent of IATA (International Carriers Association). This association imposes very strict requirements for safe equipment, for the level of training of personnel who will be involved in issuing tickets. In addition, IATA only accepts guarantees from a certain range of foreign banks. For membership in IATA, a deposit of $20,000 is required. For a small agency, these conditions are almost impossible to fulfill. In this case, you can conclude a subagency agreement.

Agency agreements allow you to issue tickets on the forms of the air carrier (stocks). First of all, the airline is concerned about the safety of effluents. To avoid loss or damage to stocks, their owners check the reliability of their potential agent's safe equipment (and generally the conditions for storing and filling out forms) and the qualifications of personnel. In case of damage to stocks, a fine will be charged from the agency. The amount of the fine depends on the airline. Approximately $200-500 per form. This is to obtain financial guarantees, in case of termination of the contract, the deposit is returned.

However, in order to become an agent of an airline, it is not enough just to become an accredited agent of IATA or the Transport Clearing House (for agents of Russian airlines).

It is very important to get access to global reservation systems (Amadeus, Gabriel, Galileo, Star or Sirena, for rail transportation - Express). You can connect once or permanently. Such systems allow you to book seats on any flight from anywhere in the world. Access to such systems costs $40-60 per month and $40-100 for a one-time connection (depending on the operator).

You can become an airline agent only if you have experience in organizing flights and a client base, otherwise you will not be interested in the carrier. It is not recommended to use the services of "cheap" transportation. Playing on the price difference between major airlines, you can save $6,000-10,000 per flight or $30 per ticket.

Most of the flights are observed on holidays: New Year, May holidays. Due to the fact that the liners often return empty, ticket prices vary. For example, a ticket to Egypt in common days costs about $170, on holidays - $260-280.

In case the travel agency cannot afford the agency of several major air carriers resort to subagency agreements. You can become a subagent of any airline only with its permission and under the conditions established by the company. Although these requirements are no longer as severe as the agency ones. There are sub-agents, as well as commission agents.

They receive about 6-7% of the ticket price. The company itself receives at the same time 5-7% as a commission. However, many airlines have a system of bonus rewards. But since tariff plans are constantly growing, even large companies find it difficult to regularly receive bonuses.

For a long time there has been a practice of selling tickets via the Internet. A lot of Internet agencies have appeared and you need to be able to “stand out from the crowd”. So, one of these agencies offers booking of air tickets for international and domestic airlines, hotels, car rental via the Internet. It has a specially designed program that allows you to process a huge volume of applications and make real-time bookings (immediately informs about the availability of seats and ticket prices). With such a system, one can see savings in money (booking a ticket without intermediaries), time (filling out a simple form and fast delivery of a ticket by a courier), freedom of choice (dozens of flight options and mass special offers). In addition, this system allows you to get a ticket not only with a courier, but also on your own, at the airport or in one of the cities of Russia (even not very large). However, this service is provided for a fee.

The system enables small travel agencies to serve their customers better. It also provides for the commission of travel agencies.

There are difficulties in booking tickets for charter flights. Information about them is available only to the travel agency that organized it. Tickets for "charts" are cheaper than for regular flights. Now, a number of Internet sites allow not only to purchase tickets for the "charts", but also to compare the prices of most carriers and choose the cheapest and most convenient option.

The situation is different in the case of booking train tickets, as MPS is a monopoly. Here, tickets are not booked, but issued, which, in principle, is the same thing.

Moscow Railway(MZhD) entrusted the conclusion of contracts to the Moscow Railway Agency (MZhA). The agreement concluded by the tour operator with the IJA provides for the presence of a railway ticket sales terminal in the company's office and allows the sale of tickets for domestic routes.

The MZHA has no less requirements than the IATA. There are three stages of accreditation: 1 - accreditation of the agent's right to have a contract, 2 - accreditation of the point of sale itself, 3 - accreditation of employees who will work at the point of sale in this company.

Travel agencies independently set the fee, because. The IJA does not provide any commission. The fee for all companies is different, it is about 120 rubles. from the ticket.

There is one caveat in the ticket business. During the season there are too many tours and in order to attract a client, travel agencies may not charge a 5% sales tax. The fact is that when purchasing a ticket from an air carrier, Travel Company How entity does not pay this tax. Theoretically, this tax should be charged to the customer, but...

So, summing up, we can say that it is more profitable to sell tickets, because. MFA does not make commissions. Also, it is much more profitable to have not depository relations with the airline, but to enjoy the maximum degree of loyalty on the part of the airline.

Based on the article by Oleg Krespa, published in the "Business Journal"

Format: Word (RAR) Volume: 34 pages

Business plan

Reviews (3)

If you are interested in a low-cost and not too burdensome business, then opening an air ticket office will be the most the best option creating your own business. Purchasing tickets directly at the airport is associated with significant time losses, so busy people will certainly appreciate the fact that someone has decided to open an airline ticket agency near their office or home.

But it would not be entirely true to believe that in order to open such a business, you only need an air ticket operator and suitable premises. Finding such an area is really not difficult, especially since no requirements are imposed on them. In addition, for these purposes it is enough to rent a small corner of 8-10 square meters. m. But the very process of organizing a business for the sale of air tickets is somewhat difficult.

In order to trade tickets, you need to have access to information. This will be possible only after you draw up an agreement with the airlines, under which you will be their agents or subagents. If you decide to organize an international ticket office, then, among other things, you will have to register as an agency of the international association of carriers.

The air ticket business has been attracting everyone lately. large quantity entrepreneurs. This is explained by the relatively low threshold for entering this business, but businessmen often find out that there are additional difficulties much later. Opening an air ticket office is possible only if you are able to conclude an agency agreement with major airlines. But whether they want to do business with you is still a big question.

As a rule, only businessmen who already have some experience in organizing flights and have a client base become airline agents. Otherwise, you are unlikely to be able to interest the carrier. A business like an air ticket office will only be profitable if you enter into an agreement with a large company, only this will allow you to make a profit due to the difference in the cost of expensive tickets.

After the conclusion of the contract, you get the right to issue tickets using the forms of the carrier - stocks. The safety of these documents worries the representatives of the airline in the first place. Therefore, an entrepreneur planning to open his own air ticket office must ensure the reliable storage of forms. A businessman thinking about how to open an air ticket office himself from scratch must take into account the fact that he will be charged a hefty fine for damaging forms.

Opening an air ticket office as a business requires access to global reservation systems. This will allow you to book seats on flights, but access to such systems will require an additional fee. Thinking through various options for organizing an air ticket office, do not forget about this important document, as a quality business plan for an air ticket office. From it you will learn about all the features of such a business as air and railway ticket offices, understand what you need in order to open a ticket office. Following the advice of professionals, you can easily turn the opening of a business selling rail, road and air tickets into a source of stable profit.

Reviews on the business plan of the airline ticket office (3)

1 2 3 4 5

Air ticket office business plan

Maria

Maria, we agree, it only seems that everything is simple, but when you start implementing it, it becomes clear that there are many nuances. To avoid this, it is worth planning all the actions in advance, then it becomes easier to work and the result is achieved faster, and this is important in business. We hope that soon you will meet the first customers. We believe you will succeed, good luck to you.

Air ticket office business plan

Kirill

Cyril, I agree with you, finished document reflects the main points of activity, but it is problematic from a practical point of view to take into account all the individual nuances in it, this can only be done to order, which is much more expensive. Having finalized the document for yourself, you have understood the economics of the enterprise, and this will allow you to plan its activities more efficiently in the future. We wish you good luck.

Air ticket office business plan

Vladimir

Vladimir, we are glad that we could provide you with real support. Now you understand how important a business plan is for an organization own business. With it comes an understanding of what costs are coming, after what time to expect the result and how to properly organize the work. There are many nuances, but when they are collected in one document, it becomes much easier to work. We wish you further successful development.

In stock Air ticket office business plan 5 11

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Ticket service center

Organization ticket service center on trains, planes, sea and river boats, intercity buses- the idea, in general, is no longer new, but quite promising in terms of creating a profitable business, especially in high season summer holidays.

Today, in Moscow alone, train and plane tickets are sold by about 1,500 different ticket offices. Most of of which belong to 10 large agencies that deal exclusively ticketing - selling tickets.

According to expert estimates, more than a quarter of travelers are ready to buy tickets for which the cost will be slightly higher at the box office of commercial structures, so as not to waste their time and nerves in the queues of ordinary railway and air ticket offices. And every year the number of people willing to pay for comfort is growing. Independent ticket offices agree on service fees with the carrier, so their amount differs by a maximum of 50 rubles. Agree, it's not much.

Someone may object - is there a loudly advertised service for online booking of tickets, which RZD appeared not so long ago? Alas, the service turned out to be not very convenient for passengers, and he " e-ticket"- not quite complete. In the form in which RZD offers ticket sales via the Internet, you still need to issue a ticket on a regular form, that is, the passenger still has to arrive at the station and, huddled in line, pick up the ticket at the box office. In addition, you cannot buy online concession ticket, as well as reissue tickets purchased earlier. Customers who have already used the new service note that cashiers at official ticket offices are often not even trained to issue travel documents sold by their own online service. And most importantly, when issuing tickets via the Internet, Russian Railways also takes a commission, and almost the same as independent agents, so it turns out that for your own 125 rubles of an additional fee, you also need to stand in line. In short, the RZD innovation turned out to be clearly crude and inconvenient.

Unlike a hard-to-lift monopolist, small private ticket offices offer their customers not only tickets, but also additional services for delivery of tickets to the office or to the station, they accept payment in various forms. This, as well as the absence of queues and crowding, attracts future passengers to private ticket offices for the sale of railway, air and other tickets. Although it happens that they offer passengers not the most convenient and cheap, but the most expensive tickets.

On practice ticket office pays off in 2-3 years. To start an activity, you will have to not only register a company, but also become a dealer of a major carrier, the same Russian Railways, Aeroflot, etc. For this, by the way, it is necessary to have serious financial resources in the form of bank guarantees and a deposit, because the services provided by large carriers, as a rule, are deposit-based. Large carriers, especially monopolists, work mainly with those agents who may be interested in them with large sales volumes, so most likely new players in this market will have to first become a sub-dealer or representative of a larger ticketing company (ticketing).

Rail ticket agencies make their living mainly on so-called "service fees" that are charged in addition to the price of the ticket, as well as on the sale of additional services. Each company sets the amount of the service fee on its own, on average its value is 100 - 150 rubles, delivery of a ticket to a client's home costs about 250 - 300 rubles.

Let's see what requirements Russian Railways imposes on ticket agents?

The future agent is obliged to equip the premises for the point of sale in advance in accordance with certain requirements. Ticket point (ticket office) must have a convenient location, the presence of nearby competitors is highly undesirable. Another prerequisite is a reliable Internet connection.

Obtaining accreditation will cost the future agent 35 thousand rubles. In addition to the standard set of office furniture and equipment, it will be necessary to purchase a special printer from a specialized company for issuing tickets for 100,000 rubles and connect to the Express booking system, which will cost 15,000–20,000 rubles.

The next obligatory step is to train cashiers in a specialized training center to work in the system. The cost of the courses is about 15 thousand rubles per person.

Another mandatory condition - the agent must have a deposit in the bank, in the amount of at least 10% of the monthly sales volume. Just in case, so to speak.

Thus, in order to fulfill all the requirements of Russian Railways even before concluding an agency agreement, the agent company must spend at least 180 thousand rubles. Further, monthly expenses will include a fee for servicing the Express system (4.5 thousand rubles), the salary of at least two cashiers and a courier. Plus, you will need to keep a deposit, maintain an office, and advertise your agency. And all this will have to be paid back with a service fee of 100-300 rubles from each ticket sold. How feasible is this task?

According to Russian Railways, an average of 560,000–620,000 tickets are sold throughout the country every day, and up to 900,000 during the peak summer period. Independent agencies account for about a quarter of sales, and this, think for yourself, is a fairly decent volume. On ordinary days, a good agency is able to sell 350-375 tickets, service fees for which will bring him a profit of 70-80 thousand rubles. The deposit that the ticketing agency is required to keep with such a volume of sales under the terms of the agreement with Russian Railways will be at least one million rubles. This is hardly affordable option for small business. Small agencies usually sell 60-80 tickets a day, earning 12-16 thousand rubles on service charges. This is already on the verge of profitability, so many of them consider the sale of railway tickets as just one of the services, simultaneously trading in air tickets and intercity tickets. bus routes. And it is right. Multi-ticket service centers attract more buyers.

Recently, major independent ticket retail players have been actively developing their sub-agency networks. Working as a subagent does not require large investments, but it can become good source extra income for service companies business centers and travel agencies and travel agencies. The rights and opportunities of subagents are limited, they do not have direct exit into the booking system, but work through Russian Railways agents and their system. The mechanism of interaction between an agent and a subagent can be different. The most primitive option is when a subagent books a ticket with an agent and sends a courier to him with payment. The most advanced - when the sub-agent works in the agent's system, has in his hands uniform ticket forms and can print out on the spot travel document on your printer.

The table below lists the main points of what is needed to open a point of sale of tickets for railway transport.

How to open a ticket point

Ticket Agent	Ticket sub-agent
Obtain accreditation of a point of sale in Russian Railways. Waiting period - 3 - 4 months. The issue price is 35 thousand rubles. Strict requirements for the location and equipment of the point of sale of tickets.	Conclude an agreement with an agent of Russian Railways. Some agents who develop their retail sub-agency networks can register directly on their website.
Buy special equipment. The cost of the equipment is 100 thousand rubles. The equipment requires special maintenance.	A computer with Internet access is enough.
Arrange a connection to the Express booking system. The cost is 10 - 15 thousand rubles. The monthly payment for the use and maintenance of the system is about 4.5 thousand rubles.	Connect to the agent's system. Typically, such a scheme has limitations: it does not allow you to see the availability, the information may be out of date. It works according to the scheme: sending data to the agent - receiving a response.
Hire a certified cashier or train your own. The cost is about 15 - 30 thousand rubles.	Learn how the system works. It will take one or two days.
Submit a daily sales report to Russian Railways. Keep a deposit of at least 10% of monthly sales.	Transfer to the agent a certain fixed amount as a guarantee for the purchase of tickets (usually about 20 - 30 thousand rubles).

Today on the Internet you can find many offers for those who want to become a representative for ticket sales, both for railway transport and so for flights. To search and book, for example, plane tickets, you can use the services of the largest Russian air ticket search engine Aviasales , which searches and compares airfare prices online for free and finds the cheapest flight prices. In essence, you simply get access and the ability to work with a database of dozens of airlines.

Given the ease of operation of such a business, the number of ticketing sub-agents is growing rapidly. The client needs a service and he does not care if the seller is an agent or subagent of a transport company, it is important for him to get a ticket in right place and at the right time. So, there should be enough space in this market, if not for everyone, then for many.