AirAsia embraces GDS with Travelport deal
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AirAsia has committed to offering its fares to the travel trade with the signing of a landmark agreement with Travelport.
The new partnership will see the low-cost carrier distribute all of its fares and ancillary services through Travelport’s Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan GDS systems. This will mark the first time AirAsia’s fares have been available for GDS bookings.
As part of the agreement, AirAsia has also signed up for Travelport’s new merchandising technology, which allows travel agents to shop, compare and book AirAsia and AirAsia X flights alongside those offered by traditional carriers. As well as standard fares, agents will be able to book ancillary products including checked-in bags, advanced seat selection and in-flight meals.
“I am delighted that one of the world’s highest profile, low-cost airlines has selected Travelport as its partner and is fully embracing what we can uniquely offer through our industry-leading merchandising technology,” said Derek Sharp, Travelport’s managing director of global distribution sales & services.
“We look forward to helping AirAsia extend their distribution channel whilst providing more in-demand, low cost air content to our 67,000 travel agency subscribers worldwide,” he added.
AirAsia’s group CEO, Tony Fernandes, said the Travelport deal “enables us to distribute our low fares to even more travellers”.
The move marks the latest example of LCCs embracing the travel trade. Late last year Tigerair signed its first ever GDS agreement, while Europe’s biggest budget carrier Ryanair recently signed its first GDS deal for 10 years.
The Travelport deal will apply to all of AirAsia’s regional subsidiaries in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India, plus AirAsia X in Malaysia and Thailand.
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