Travelport last month celebrated a milestone, marking three years since the launch of its airline merchandising technology. Since then the system has been adopted by more than 150 airlines around the world, with recent additions including British Airways, Iberia, Scandinavian Airlines and JetBlue. The system offers Aggregated Shopping which integrates low-cost carriers with traditional airlines on a single display to enable easy comparison; Ancillary Services, used by travel consultants to sell the widening array of add-on products such as checked baggage, extra leg room, lounge passes and more; plus Rich Content and Branding which offers the ability for airlines to feature their full range of products via GDS, with detailed product descriptions and imagery and bundled fare families.
The technology firm isn’t resting on its laurels, with the suite continuing to develop apace. Recent enhancements have seen Travelport add the capability for airlines to make tailored or personalised offers to both individual travel agencies and/or their corporate clients. Example uses include Air India, which is allowing UK-based travel agents to offer business class clients limousine airport transfers, as well as TAM Airlines which enables agents to sell economy customers passes to use the British Airways business class lounge at LHR Terminal 3.
Derek Sharp, Travelport Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Air Commerce, said he was thrilled that 150 carriers had already adopted the system, demonstrating the value they see in Travelport’s technology as a driver of additional revenues per seat and to detail the differentiated products and services they offer. Sharp said Travelport’s airline merchandising technology sees the company “lead the industry by a considerable margin. The new developments that enable personalised, tailored offers to individual corporations and travel agencies illustrate the further execution of our strategy to change our relationship with airlines to deliver higher value”.
