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AIRLINES
IN BRIEF
American Airlines ends legal disputes with Orbitz and Travelport
ORBITZ HAS REACHED a deal with American Airlines following similar announcements from Travelport, which owns 48 per cent of Orbitz, and by tech rival Sabre, to end long-running litigation with the airline.
“The settlement requires review and approval by the court presiding over AMR Corporation’s restructuring,” said American and Orbitz in a joint statement. Orbitz, which is based in Chicago, owns a variety of online travel brands, including its global corporate travel specialist operation, Orbitz for Business. American Airlines and Travelport have also settled their two- year legal dispute and signed a distribution deal. Travelport had been accused of anti-competitive practices by AA. The settlement, currently undisclosed, has yet to be ratified by
courts in the US, but Travelport said all litigation had now been resolved. A similar dispute between Sabre and AA resulted in a payment of around US$280 million to the carrier. Under the new contract, Travelport has offered the airline the technology to sell AA’s new Main Cabin Extra premium economy seating through the GDSs for the first time.
24-year-old Anthony Mutua of Kenya has invented a chip that can charge phones with footsteps. Innovation from the ground up #NewDigitalAge
Tweet by Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt)
n Sabre has launched a new app to make it easier for agents to book seats on French operator SNCF’s trains. The Sabre Rail SNCF app, available from from the Sabre Red App Centre, displays all the train operator’s products, fares and seat availability on a single screen. When a booking is completed, all the traveller’s data is then automatically sent through Sabre’s system.
n Tech firm Amadeus has agreed a new deal with British Airways’ owner IAG to distribute the company’s flights through the GDS. The new “long-term” agreement, which covers BA as well as IAG’s other brands Iberia and Iberia Express, allows travel agents continued access to the same level of fares, availability and functionality as during the previous deal.
TMCs
Travelport launches flight shopping platform
TRAVELPORT HAS LAUNCHED a new platform for selling flights that will allow TMCs to shop for airline fares and ancillaries on a single screen. The technology firm unveiled its Travelport Merchandising Platform, which is designed to make it easier for agents to compare flight prices and the full range of ancillaries offered by carriers. The system shows results from airlines using
the traditional GDS and also from no-frills carriers, such as Easyjet, which supply fares through direct API links from their websites. It will also allow the TMCs to select which add-on services their customers require and directly compare the prices across airlines to see the full cost of the flight. Easyjet has already started using Travelport’s
Aggregated Shopping feature on the new platform, which allows agents access to all of the airline’s fares and ancillaries. Cath Lynn, Easyjet’s customer and revenue
director, said the airline wanted to use the system to make it easier for TMCs and corporates to book their flights. “For a big chunk of the managed business
travel sector we were not making it easy to book and travel with Easyjet,” Lynn admitted. “We are now being displayed on one screen with Lufthansa or Air France, which is really going to help us. It’s a massive move forward. It puts control back into the hands of customers – it’s a great lever for TMCs to deliver value and choice.” The system is designed to show everything on a single screen to make it easier and quicker for agents to compare fares and ancillaries across carriers. Derek Sharp, Travelport’s managing
director for global distribution and sales, said: “Travelport Merchandising Platform paves the way for significant change in the distribution landscape by enabling airlines to go to market with all of their products in the right place, at the right time, in every channel. It provides complete consistency in how an airline’s product portfolio is presented and sold across all channels.”
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