Travelport wins tender to become Air India’s sole distributor in home market

Travel commerce platform Travelport has announced today it had won a competitive tender process undertaken by Air India for the sole distribution of its domestic flight content in the airline’s home market.

The contract awarded to Travelport came after a comprehensive bidding process. It will begin to come into effect from November 2018 and be fully implemented by the end of 2019.

The agreement confirms Air India’s continued deployment of Travelport Rich Content and Branding, now used by over 270 airlines. This displays the airlines’ graphical content, their fares families and a full range of ancillary products. It means that Travelport will provide the same content as Air India’s own direct-selling channels.

Travelport has seen a rapid expansion in India in recent years following the acquisition of the business from the largest online travel agencies such as MakeMyTrip, Ibibo, Yatra, EaseMyTrip and ClearTrip, as well as working with the major corporate travel agencies and new entrants to the travel sector such as PayTM.  In addition to industry-leading airline content, Travelport has also expanded its footprint and capabilities with leading hotel groups and aggregators in India such as Oberoi, Taj, Treebo and Trident.

“We faced stiff competition from our rivals and rigorous examination”

Gordon Wilson, Travelport’s president and CEO, commented, “Travelport is delighted to have been selected by Air India to provide these services. It is another welcome endorsement of our technology and our services in India. It was a tough process. We faced stiff competition from our rivals and rigorous examination by the airline’s team. We look forward to implementing the agreement and delivering a world-class service to the airline.”

Air India is the country’s flag air carrier with a leading position in international and domestic operations. Along with Air India Express, it has a 43% share of the international traffic to and from India among Indian carriers and a 17% share, including global airlines, as of Q3 CY17. It is a member of the Star Alliance and is a pioneer of India’s civil aviation sector, being the first scheduled airline in India, enjoying a rich heritage of over 85 years.

“Even better value for money and a superior distribution”

Pradeep Singh Kharola, chairman and managing director of Air India, said: “Air India is pleased to award this important contract to Travelport. In written submissions and in discussion with their team the company demonstrated a clear understanding of our needs and displayed impressive technological and financial capability.

“As we make the switch to Travelport, we hope to be able to deliver even better value for money and a superior distribution to our customers in India and abroad.”