Travelport and AirAsia Sign New Distribution Agreement

handshakeFor the first time, Travelport and AirAsia, the largest low-cost carrier in Asia, have signed a distribution agreement. Moving forward, all fares and ancillary services for the airline will be distributed through the Travelport GDS (global distribution channel).

As part of the agreement, AirAsia also signed up for Travelport’s merchandising technology including Travelport Aggregated Shopping; travel agents will be able to shop, compare and book AirAsia and AirAsia X flights alongside those offered by more traditional airlines in exactly the same booking workflow. 

Travelport-connected agents worldwide will be able to search and book competitive fares and popular ancillaries such as checked-in bags, advance seat selection and in-flight meals offered by all airlines under the AirAsia group.

Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia Group, (www.airasia.com) said: “The Travelport Merchandising Platform offers us the flexibility to connect to the GDS channel and enables us to distribute our low fares to even more travelers as we continue to expand our offering.” 

AirAsia has a network covering 87 destinations. During its 12 years of operations, the airline has carried more than 220 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to more than 150 planes.

Derek Sharp, managing director of global distribution sales and services at Travelport (www.travelport.com), said he was delighted that one of the world’s highest profile, low-cost airlines selected Travelport as its partner and that his organization looks forward to helping AirAsia extend their distribution channel while “providing more in-demand, low cost air content to our 67,000 travel agency subscribers worldwide.”

The Travelport Merchandising Platform was unveiled last April. As well as Travelport Aggregated Shopping, the platform offers two other components. One is Travelport Ancillary Services which allows travel agents to sell airline ancillaries such as pre-allocated seating, meals and bags, within their existing workflow rather than by booking on an airline website.

The second is Travelport Rich Content and Branding, scheduled for launch in the coming months. It will enable airlines to market and retail their products more effectively through customization of product display and content.