Travelport has announced details of an expanded multi-year content agreement with Southwest Airlines which will utilize the Travelport Universal Application Programming Interface (uAPI). Southwest Airlines is among the first group of airlines to connect via the company’s Travelport Universal API.
The expanded content agreement will bring all of Southwest’s published fares and inventory, with the exception of certain Southwest exclusive web fares, to all offline Travelport travel agency customers, on all Travelport platforms globally that book through the Travelport uAPI.
Southwest Airlines content will also become available to customers choosing to connect through the company’s flagship corporate booking tool Travelport Traversa, third-party corporate booking tools and Travelport Universal Desktop.
The desktop offers a groundbreaking booking solution that unifies travel selling and merchandising onto a single platform and is currently in testing at Flight Centre Ltd.
Travelport customers booking through the Travelport uAPI will be able to seamlessly integrate the following Southwest features into their booking process:
• Integrated display with enhanced functionality such as live availability and last seat inventory
• Booking and ticketing that supports the loyalty/Rapid Rewards membership number at the time of booking
• Support for low fare searches that return the lowest fare available
• A range of additional functional benefits such as deferred ticketing and cancel reservation
"Southwest Airlines is excited about the expanded global content agreement that we are implementing with Travelport, and the ability to provide our mutual corporate customers globally with the seamless functionality, and booking/ticketing convenience that they require," said Brad Newcomb, senior director of Distribution, Southwest Airlines.
“This enhanced agreement, enabling connectivity to Southwest via the Travelport uAPI, is ground breaking as it enables all customers to gain access to a superior booking process which is unprecedented in the GDS channel,” said Travis Christ, president and managing director, Travelport GDS, The Americas.
“This access to Southwest, enabled by Travelport’s industry-leading uAPI, provides a level of access that is unrivaled by any other GDS in the market today. With exclusive tools and enhanced functionality, Travelport agencies will increase their efficiency in booking Southwest,” Christ said.
Visit www.travelport.com.