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GDS air fares provider ATPCO in landmark deal


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


The Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO) acquired US technology firm Routehappy, a ‘rich content’ provider for carriers, last week in a deal that could mark a significant step in transforming airline distribution.


ATPCO is the repository of


fare data for global distribution systems (GDSs). It is behind almost 90% of ticket sales worldwide and is owned by a consortium of airlines including British Airways and Iberia parent International Airlines Group, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM. The acquisition should allow


ATPCO to move beyond the standard fares it feeds to GDSs into ancillary-product merchandising, or ‘rich content’, which airlines increasingly demand. Leading carriers have criticised


the ATPCO system as outdated as they seek to develop alternative, web-based distribution channels with non-GDS technology providers using Iata’s New


Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. Stephen Humphreys, BA head


of global sales, told the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) in November: “Airlines file more than 100 million fares through ATPCO to distribute through GDSs. Think of the work involved. It’s hardly dynamic. We are constrained. We can be far more tailored and targeted.” BA, Iberia and Lufthansa have


sought to drive adoption of NDC channels by imposing surcharges on GDS bookings. BA and Iberia did so last November, Lufthansa in 2015, and Air France-KLM will bring in a GDS fee in April. The acquisition, the first in


ATPCO’s 53-year history, marks a departure since Routehappy provides airline content via APIs [application programme interfaces], displaying rich or ancillary content under terms such as ‘amenities’, ‘Universal Product Attributes’ (UPAs) and ‘Universal Ticket Attributes’ (UTAs) for companies including United Airlines, Sabre, Expedia and Google. Routehappy founder and chief


executive Robert Albert said ATPCO


FORAN: ‘ATPCO is fuelling the future of airline distribution’


would “allow Routehappy to become an industry standard for rich content for airlines”. He added: “We now have a clear path to help the industry transform.” BA head of product delivery and


revenue management and ATPCO chairman Jerry Foran said: “ATPCO is executing on its promise to fuel the future of airline distribution. We want travellers to be able to see the differences between flight options.” He added: “By aligning


Routehappy’s rich content with ATPCO’s fare and pricing data, airlines can ensure consistent and differentiated offers for their products in every sales channel.” ATPCO president and chief


executive Rolf Purzer suggested Routehappy “solves many of the challenges airlines encounter in delivering consistent messaging, branding, and merchandising through multiple distribution channels”.


PEAKS WATCH Latest GfK bookings data


SUMMER 2018


Week to January 27 % change in passengers booked on comparable week 2017


10%


Change in average selling price (ASP)


All-inclusive bookings Average duration Average duration,


£31 11%


9 days


comparable week 2017 9.2


Season to date % change in passengers booked year on year


4% WINTER 2017-18


Week to January 27 % change in passengers on comparable week 2017


6%


Change in ASP £41


All-inclusive bookings Average duration Average duration,


15% comparable week 2017


8 days 8.3


All bookings, four weeks to January 27


11% Washington and Qatar agree deal over airline ‘subsidies’


The US has reached an agreement with Qatar Airways to end a three-year dispute with leading US carriers over alleged state subsidies. US secretary of state Rex Tillerson announced


a deal last week that would see Qatar Airways open its accounts, but there is no resolution as yet to claims by Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United against Qatar’s Gulf rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways. The US carriers alleged in 2015 that Qatar,


Emirates and Etihad received more than $40 billion in government subsidies and other “unfair advantages in the last decade”. All three Gulf airlines rejected the allegations. The memorandum of understanding commits


Qatar Airways to issue “public annual reports with financial statements audited externally in accordance with internationally recognised accounting standards, to the extent they are not already doing so”.


A side letter to the agreement states that


Qatar’s civilian aviation authority, headed by Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al Baker, is unaware of any plans by the airline to fly to the US from a country other than Qatar – for example, from Europe. American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker


welcomed the news and hailed the agreement as a “landmark action” that “thoughtfully addresses the illegal subsidies received by Qatar Airways”.


8 February 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 79





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