Search Results forgermanwings
Eurowings’ journey from “air taxi” to value airline for Europe
Today's Eurowings was formed on 1 February 1993 from the merger of the two regional airlines. The mid-1970s, two pilots, one dream. Independently of each other, Hans Rudolf Wöhrl founds Nürnberger Flugdienst (NFD) and Reinhard Santner founds Dortmund Reise- und Industrieflug (RFG). The portfolio of the two companies is similar and includes air taxi services, ambulance and cargo flights, seaside resort services – so-called on-demand air transport. The name "Eurowings" was suggested by an employee who won an ideas competition with 500 Deutsche Mark for the winning entry. The logo introduced in the course of the launch was designed by students of the Nuremberg Academy of Arts. Take-off with propeller aircraft At that time, the airline started with just under 1,000 employees and ATR 72 propeller aircraft. Although 32 destinations in eleven countries were already served in the founding year, the focus was on domestic connections. For quite some time, Eurowings had to fly under the flight numbers of NFD and RFG, because the code that Eurowings needed had been assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to a subsidiary of Papua New Guinea-based Janlyn PTE. Through intensive negotiations, it was finally possible to get the EW code for Eurowings’ flights. The first flight, with the number EW733, went from Nuremberg to Paris in 1994. In the 1990s, Eurowings took over feeder flights for the Dutch airline KLM, among others, and was en route to Amsterdam with 13 aircraft at times – initially as a competitor of Lufthansa. 2001: Lufthansa acquires a stake in Eurowings The year 2001 marks a milestone in the history of Eurowings. With the Lufthansa Group's participation, the company's strategy changes: the turboprop aircraft are replaced by CRJ jets, and Eurowings operates flights in the Lufthansa Regional network. Just one year later, Eurowings launches a low-cost pioneer for Germany, Germanwings, which, in tandem with Eurowings, soon breaks the 10-million passenger mark. The great era of low-cost airlines begins (slogan: "Fly high, pay low"), to which Germanwings contributes the flexible fare model BASIC, SMART and BIZclass. The concept quickly becomes the industry standard and is still used at Eurowings today. In 2011, Eurowings moves to Düsseldorf, the largest air traffic location in North Rhine-Westphalia. "Light Sky Blue" and "Burgundy": Eurowings' leading colors since 2014 In 2014, the company gets the look and brand identity it is known for today, with the leading colors "Light Sky Blue" and "Burgundy". The new strategy includes, among other things, a significant expansion of Germanwings and Eurowings in line with growing travel: the previous Eurowings fleet of smaller CRJ aircraft will be replaced by 23 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family. Inseparably linked to the company's history, however, is the accident of Germanwings flight 4U9525 on 24 March 2015, which claimed the lives of 150 people. An event that will remain in collective memory forever. Eurowings subsequently begins to expand away from German airports, soon opening a base on Mallorca and founding the Eurowings Europe flight operation for pan-European routes outside Germany. And the dynamic development continues: after the end of Air Berlin in 2017 and the takeover of a large part of the fleet, hundreds of new jobs are created – many of which are filled by former AirBerlin colleagues. Eurowings today: the value airline for Europe Today, Eurowings explicitly sets itself apart from the ultra-low-cost carrier segment with its clear positioning as Europe's value carrier for private and business travelers. The Lufthansa subsidiary combines inexpensive and flexible flying with innovative and customer-friendly services – a strategy with which it is expanding its leading position in the German market. In doing so, it focuses on the core needs of today's air travelers: more flexibility, affordable comfort and sustainability. "There are very few airlines in Germany that have succeeded for 30 years in a difficult market environment and have repeatedly mastered dynamic changes. It is all the more wonderful that we can celebrate our 30th birthday as Germany's largest holiday airline," said Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof. "We owe this success first and foremost to our more than 4,000 employees from 60 nations who have found their professional home with us. This diversity makes us strong. Because what has always distinguished Eurowings is the very special team spirit and the ability to react quickly to ever new market changes. We say thank you, Team Eurowings – here's to the next 30 years!" The Eurowings fleet includes more than 100 aircraft that fly to 140 destinations in more than 50 countries. In addition to its bases in Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Berlin, Eurowings also has major operations in Palma de Mallorca, Salzburg, Prague and Stockholm. This makes the Lufthansa subsidiary one of the largest leisure airlines in Europe. Every minute, a Eurowings aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in Europe. Focus on sustainability Eurowings combines its passion for flying with corporate responsibility for the environment. It aims to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. An important step towards this was the introduction of the world's most efficient medium-haul jet, the Airbus A320neo, into the fleet in 2022. Each new aircraft of this type emits 4,500 tonnes less CO2 per year compared to its predecessor. In addition to this, more than 50 projects with the aim of conserving resources and protecting the environment are underway at Eurowings. Carbon compensation at the click of a mouse, punctual flights, friendly services, the most flexible rebooking options in the industry or a free middle seat starting at ten euros – these are just a few of the many examples of the modern value concept with which Eurowings presents itself as young, modern and innovative, even after 30 years.
Ryanair logs in first-half loss due to passenger slump
Low-cost carrier Ryanair has reported a loss of EUR 197 million (USD 230 million) for the first half of financial 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to extract a huge toll on the aviation sector. The loss compares to a profit of EUR 1.15 billion (USD 1.34 billion) for the same period of last year. The airline was forced to ground 99% of its fleet from mid-March to the end of June as the coronavirus swept Europe. Service was resumed on 1 July but the disruption meant the carrier welcomed only 17 million passengers over the six-month period, down from 86 million for the period in 2019. The Covid-19 crisis has already caused the closure of a number of EU airlines including Flybe, Germanwings and Level as well as deep long-term capacity reductions at many others. In the longer term, the carrier said this would allow it to grow its network and expand its fleet, as well as to take advantage of lower cost airport and aircraft opportunities which will ‘inevitably’ arise.
Lufthansa to reduce flight operations long-term
The leadership of Lufthansa is not expecting the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels swiftly, if at all. And, according to its assessment, it will take several months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted and years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels. Based on this evaluation, Lufthansa's executive board has decided to bring in extensive measures to reduce the capacity of flight operations and administration long term. At Lufthansa, six Airbus A380s and seven A340-600s, in addition to five Boeing 747-400s, will be permanently decommissioned. In addition, eleven Airbus A320s will be withdrawn from short-haul operations. The six A380s were already scheduled for sale to Airbus in 2022. The decision to phase out seven A340-600s and five Boeing 747-400s was taken based on the environmental as well as economic disadvantages of these aircraft types. With this decision, Lufthansa will be reducing capacity at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Furthermore, Lufthansa Cityline will also withdraw three Airbus A340-300 aircraft from service. Since 2015, the regional carrier has been operating flights to long-haul tourist destinations for Lufthansa. Eurowings will also be reducing the number of its aircraft in the short-haul segment with an additional ten Airbus A320s planned to be phased out. The Eurowings long-haul business which is run under the commercial responsibility of Lufthansa will also be reduced. In addition, the implementation of Eurowings objective of consolidating flight operations into one unit, which was defined before the crisis, will now be accelerated. Germanwings flight operations will be discontinued. All options resulting from this are to be discussed with the respective unions. The restructuring programs already initiated at Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines will be further intensified due to the coronavirus crisis. Among other things, both companies are working on reducing their fleets. SWISS International Air Lines will also adjust its fleet size by delaying deliveries of new short-haul aircraft and consider early phase-outs of older aircraft. The aim remains the same for all employees affected by the restructuring measures: to offer as many people as possible continued employment within the Lufthansa Group. Therefore, talks with unions and workers councils are to be arranged quickly to discuss, among other things, new employment models in order to keep as many jobs as possible.
Eurowings condemns UFO strike call
German cabin-crew union UFO has called for more strikes at Lufthansa’s low-cost Germanwings unit after the two sides failed to settle a long-running labour dispute. The union has called on the cabin employees of Germanwings flight operations to go on strike from midnight on 30 December 2019 to midnight on 1 January 2020. Eurowings finds the current call for a three-day strike incomprehensible. UFO intends to strike against the collective part-time agreement at Germanwings even though Germanwings has already been using the models for part-time allocation – which were jointly developed in arbitration – for a year now. Germanwings is in continuous constructive exchange with the organisation on various other collective-bargaining issues that affect its flight operations. Additional dates to continue the talks have already been scheduled for 16-17 January 2020. It most recently offered UFO a moderation of all pending collective bargaining topics on 23 December 2019. Unfortunately, the organisation rejected this offer. Against this backdrop, the strikes against Germanwings recently announced by UFO are in no way comprehensible. The fact that UFO is calling for a strike again despite the ongoing negotiations shows how it is ruthlessly carrying out its power politics on the backs of customers and employees. Eurowings wants to keep the impact of the strike on its passengers as minimal as possible and is working on a special flight schedule for the strike period. It should be taken into account that only 30 of the approximately 140 Eurowings aircraft are flying as part of Germanwings flight operations.
Sri Lankan Tourism outlines “aggressive” stance against terrorism
As Sri Lanka returns to normalcy after the tragic events on Easter Sunday that interrupted a decade of peace and prosperity in the island, Sri Lanka Tourism is illustrating what Sri Lankans are best at - moving forward. With authorities’ strategic operations carried out to contain the situation and the arrest of those responsible Sri Lanka is rapidly recovering and the industry is readying itself for what was to have been a record mid-season in what would have been a record year of growth for the tourism industry. “Tourism is a strategically critical sector in Sri Lanka’s ever-expanding economy. It’s now the third highest revenue generator for the country and it is estimated that 500,000 individuals depend on it. From the fishermen to the farmer to the tuk-tuk driver to the king coconut seller on the roadside, they all benefit from the tourism industry. On the flip side, thousands of people are directly employed in the hospitality sector. Therefore, many Sri Lankans from various walks of life are stakeholders of the tourism industry. We have seen darker days but have always bounced back, better and stronger. Our resilience as a nation is unrivalled. This is our strength and we will show the world that Sri Lanka will once again be the top destination to visit,” explains a confident Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs, Hon. John Amaratunga (below). Security first. Ensuring security and safety for everyone in Sri Lanka has been the single focus of the government of Sri Lanka. In the immediate wake of the attack, the full force of Sri Lanka’s highly experienced Triforces were deployed across the island and it is confirmed that all the suspects of this small but deadly cell have been identified and apprehended proving again that the advanced capabilities of our military power must never be underestimated. This was an important message and Sri Lanka Tourism was committed to ensuring that the entire Tourism community both at home and across the world were able to hear it. To this end, a joint industry press conference was organized on the 6th of May and a full security update was provided by a military spokesperson along with updates by Kishu Gomes chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism and the presidents of the key industry bodies THASL and SLAITO. The Sri Lanka Tourism chairman led the panel and briefed the different stakeholders on the following; Sri Lanka Tourism’s Emergency response protocol deployment Information access & dissemination New safety and security procedures that focus on training people, defining procedure and installing advanced security equipment Crisis management process & procurement of services Destination recovery acceleration through focussed and strategic marketing Aggressive promotion strategies Discussions on concessions and relief packages for the industry Ensuring convenience and comfort amidst new security procedures The Airport has been a primary focus in the government’s efforts to ensure complete control of the security of the island and we are grateful to Sri Lankans and visitors alike for understanding that these unprecedented incidents have resulted in some inconveniences at the airport especially with respect to pick up and drop off. Furthermore, Sri Lanka Tourism is working with the Air Force and Airport authorities to minimize the inconvenience caused by these improved security procedures. In order to provide a more user-friendly and efficient experience during arrivals, the coach park at the Bandaranayke International Airport (BIA) is now open to permit holders, with 24hr prior confirmation to airport authorities. Global expertise and strategic recovery plans Sri Lanka Tourism is focused on laying the right groundwork for rapid recovery and is working with a team of senior international experts in destination reputation management & crisis recovery, this team have successfully worked to mitigate risk for Egypt Tourism, Lufthansa Germanwings among other famous brands. The phased out strategic plan includes 1) Channel management & rapid rebuttal 2) Scenario mapping & planning 3) Customized recovery strategies for key source markets based on global consumer research "We have already taken all possible steps to demonstrate that Sri Lanka’s response to the incident is effective and credible. We are now aggressively planning to reassure the world of our levels of preparedness and setting the groundwork for future reputational recovery work by reassuring tourists that all appropriate steps are being taken by the Sri Lankan Government to prevent any future incidents and ensure the continued safety of tourists within the country. As we do this we are developing a holistic reputation recovery plan based on data and research for each of the key markets, this will be followed by an intensive global marketing campaign to further accelerate the recovery process", said Gomes.
LCC distribution channels: Direct, NDC, GDSs and consolidators
This article was originally published as a blog post by AltexSoft. It is published here with permission. Airline distribution is complex: on one side of the airline industry, we have legacy carriers mostly represented by full-service airlines. Since the late 70s, legacy airlines have used a complicated model of distribution that included various data aggregators, consolidators, tech providers, and other intermediaries. As a result, in the mid-90s, global distribution systems or GDSs (Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport) became monopolists in air travel distribution as the key flight aggregators. https://youtu.be/kysFEvbzEgA Nowadays, struggling to compensate for the lack of differentiation, legacy carriers are creating new travel APIs and establishing direct channels with travel agencies to show even more flight information. This became possible with the advent of New Distribution Capability (NDC) by International Air Transport Association (IATA). NDC is an initiative to set standards that would allow airlines to distribute their flights directly through online travel agencies or through global distribution systems and also provide ancillary offers. The other end of the air travel industry is occupied by low-cost carriers (LCC). A totally different business model from the offerings of full-service airlines, the low-cost sector omitted global distribution systems’ oligopoly, leveraging direct online booking. Today, low-cost airlines cover 32% of the worldwide airline market, with over 40% in Europe and 36% in Latin America compared to full-service carriers. While it seemed nearly impossible for online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch engines to offer budget airlines’ inventory, some brands managed to do so. Examples Here are some examples of the websites and airlines they distribute: Momondo.com is a Danish metasearch website that distributes Ryanair, Wizz Air, WestJet, Spirit Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Southwest Airlines tickets through its platform. Kiwi.com is a Czech online travel agency that works with Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Ryanair, Transavia Airlines, EasyJet, and Wizz Air. Travelfusion.com, an online travel data aggregator headquartered in London, is a direct distribution platform certified by IATA’s NDC. Travelfusion works with such carriers as Eurowings, Flybe, and Spirit Airlines. Here are some recommendations on how to use each channel if you plan to integrate LCC distribution in your product and explain the pros and cons of each type of connection: What are low-cost carriers (LCCs)? Low-cost carriers (budget, no-frills, or discount airlines) represent a business model that lowers ticket prices by cutting costs on customer service, distribution, and optimising their fleet utilisation, all features that make them different from traditional, full-service airlines. Southwest Airlines first introduced the low-cost concept in the early 70s. Companies like Ryanair, EasyJet, and others copied and modified Southwest’s business model over time. And now LCCs compete with legacy airlines. Low-cost carriers offer unbundled services and charge additional fees for ancillaries. For a long time, most budget airlines operated between secondary airports (hubs), working on short-haul flights only. Until recently, these were the main pillars defining the low-cost model.Now, ultra-low-cost (e.g. Spirit Airlines) and hybrid carriers (Hop! by Air France and Germanwings by Lufthansa) appear on the market. The landscape is changing, and today the budget sector looks for long-haul opportunities (e.g. LEVEL, Norwegian Airlines) and offer bundled services to attract even more customers. The main low-cost distribution channels Since the beginning of the 21st century, no-frills airlines had changed a lot in their distribution. Major budget carriers have outgrown their home markets, struggling to establish new indirect distribution channels. Since the beginning of the 2010s, budget airlines started to settle or renew agreements with GDSs. So, Travelport, Sabre, and Amadeus listed various low-cost carriers and started distributing their tickets to online travel agencies. The list of IATA’s NDC adopters also includes several LCCs, proving the importance of rich content distribution for the low-cost sector. Generally, distribution channels for low-cost airlines can be divided into four types. Direct connection. The main channel of sales for low-cost airlines are their own websites. Selling tickets directly, budget carriers get information about their customers and optimise their systems using ticketless bookings (a type of booking without a physical ticket). They manually manage only necessary services, automating check-ins, luggage, and meal orders. Global Distribution Systems. Budget airlines are also looking towards GDSs, as providers like Travelport and Amadeus offer services tailored for low-cost needs. IATA’s NDC channel. Some low-cost carriers were the first to adopt NDC and provide XML APIs for OTAs and TMCs to connect. Low-cost consolidators and aggregators. A couple of years ago, technology providers (including global distribution systems) focused on developing dedicated portals for travel agencies to source low-cost and full-service flights via a single channel. That said, in 2019, traditional and low-cost airlines have a lot in common. But, for budget airlines, cost remains the key factor in its distribution. By building indirect channels, most carriers still attempt to avoid excessive distribution fees formed at global distribution systems. Direct connection to low-cost carriers Historically, low-cost airlines sold their tickets only on their own websites, rarely establishing individual connections with big travel agencies and metasearch websites. Customers could book tickets after being redirected to the airline’s website. So, direct distribution allowed LCCs to control the customers’ flow, analyse data, and use their own ancillary selling methods. It also gave budget airlines differentiation, so that the creation of personalised offers became possible over time. Now, travel agents can connect to budget carriers via their direct channels, as well as through GDSs, as long as they distribute budget airlines and share rich content. Nevertheless, direct booking remains the main distribution channel for low-cost carriers. As an example of high competition, look at JetBlue’s attempt to drive more customers to use their website directly. How to use a direct connection To connect with a low-cost airline, you may contact the required airline representative to learn about their available options. Some budget carriers like Ryanair, JetBlue, or flydubai will offer to source data via XML or JSON APIs. Pros: Direct API distributes a full range of airlines content without additional intermediaries like GDSs and ATPCO, the main tariff publishing and ticketing provider. Cons: Very few LCCs offer their own APIs. To learn about various APIs used in air transportation industry, check our dedicated article. Global distribution systems in the low-cost world and XML enabled channels For a long time, GDSs were completely ignored by the low-cost sector for two reasons: The main reason is the distribution fee charged by global distribution systems providers. Since budget airlines struggle to reduce ticket price by any means, indirect distribution via GDSs wasn’t a suitable option. Additional expenses on distribution could negatively affect ticket prices, requiring additional investment in technical infrastructure to offer travel agencies relevant data. That’s why online travel agencies and travel metasearches used web scraping to get flight information from budget carriers. With the rising popularity of budget airlines, capturing leading positions and occupying a significant part of the market, GDSs started putting no-frills airlines on their platforms. As a result, since the beginning of the 2010s, nearly all the larger budget carriers signed distribution or merchandising contracts with global distribution systems. Those connections include both standard GDS distribution or NDC channels by GDS provider (rich content agreement). For example, in 2014 Southwest Airlines signed a contract with Amadeus for its reservation system, expanding on other products like Amadeus Sky Suite scheduling system in 2018. Nevertheless, Southwest fares aren’t available through Amadeus, while they are present on Travelport due to the renewed content agreement in 2018. Meanwhile, Ryanair is available for distribution through Sabre and Travelport. In 2017, Ryanair left Amadeus because of growing distribution fees but continued to use Navitaire, a passenger service system owned by Amadeus. Norwegian Air Shuttle had also signed a contract with Amadeus to distribute its long-haul flights, reporting 110 percent growth in sales during a three-year period from 2015. They had also renewed the contract with Travelport, signing for a rich-content agreement, merchandising, and branding to enable ancillary offers via Travelport’s e-Commerce platform. The table of the major budget airlines in contract for content distribution with GDSs Currently, all major budget carriers work with at least one GDS provider distributing through indirect channels. With the emergence of NDC channels and expanded capabilities of direct bookings, GDSs started to offer a number of products tailored to the low-cost model. Amadeus claims partnering with almost 110 LCC and hybrid carriers with 12 newly signed airlines in 2017. It proposes three methods for booking a ticket from a budget airline on its dedicated page: E-ticketing assumes a complete integration of the airline with equal booking capabilities compared to full-service airlines. Currently, Amadeus mentions WestJet, Vueling, and Norwegian Airlines using this type of ticketing. Light-ticketing is an e-ticketing type of booking, offering immediate ticket issuing as an advantage. Light-ticketing allows excluding ATPCO from the distribution pipeline, using the XML interface. It is used by several airlines like AirAsia, Spring Airlines, Transavia, and Jet2. Ticketless booking via SSR e-pay. This type of booking requests the customer’s credit card instead of issuing a ticket. Among the airlines using it are Jetstar, Spirit Airlines, and TUl fly (formerly TUIfly). Low-cost carriers can also configure the Amadeus connection to distribute bundled and unbundled ancillaries through their NDC channels. It’s also worth mentioning that some airlines with no GDS connection still can be booked via Amadeus. How to source tickets from low-cost carriers via global distribution systems To source tickets of a specific airline, the first thing to do is to check whether the carrier is connected to a distribution system provider. You can also contact global distribution systems providers themselves to see if the required LCC is available. The next step will be integrating with a given GDS to get a booking management interface connected with an API. Pros: Like full-service distribution, global distribution systems offer rich capabilities, allowing you to source GDS and non-GDS content through their APIs. Furthermore, for the infrastructure-mature OTAs, GDS providers may offer countless products, booking tools, and merchandising platforms. A distribution provider is usually a technology provider, so you have an all-in-one solution through the distribution pipeline. Cons: The issue with global distribution systems is the integration costs. Direct distribution via new distribution capability by IATA Since the beginning of new distribution capability talks, among the first carriers to implement real NDC APIs were budget airlines. Currently, most airlines listed by IATA in their previous reports lag in the release of a working XML channel, receiving certifications only. Among the others, only two airlines seem to have their APIs in open access. British budget carrier Flybe implemented its NDC API in 2016 offering it to corporate buyers. Flybe is one of the first budget airlines to come up with an XML enabled channel. IATA has also written an in-depth case study on the Flybe’s NDC implementation. Flydubai, a Dubai government-owned LCC, was the first budget carrier to obtain IATA’s NDC compliance level 3. They also implemented an NDC API, partnered with TPConnects as an IT provider to distribute ancillaries to travel agencies. A number of low-cost airlines like Norwegian Air Shuttle also on the list of IATA NDC adopters claimed to achieve level 3 certification in 2018 without any visible signs of public API existence. WestJet works on its API in partnership with Farelogix without releasing it in public. While Vueling Airlines and JetBlue can also be found in IATA’s lists as new distribution capability adopters, there are no public APIs available. How to use NDC APIs Direct connection with the airline requires using their XML API. The problem is that developing new distribution capability channels requires expenses on IATA’s certification, development, and integration. For that reason, not so many LCCs release their APIs, as they already have direct distribution channels. Pros: These include dynamic pricing, rich content, configurability, and personalisation. Cons: Most budget airlines prefer to distribute via their own websites or stick to the GDS XML channels, making NDC a rare artifact within the budget airline segment. And if NDC grows stronger, integrating multiple APIs will be more time- and cost-consuming than using some universal API. Dedicated airline consolidators and aggregators for low-cost carriers booking Targeting low-cost airlines became a serious task for travel agencies and OTAs since the budget sector represents nearly 32 percent of the airline market. While major carriers develop indirect distribution and sign for global distribution systems, it is still difficult to reach smaller carriers. For that reason, companies like Pyton in partnership with Amadeus develop dedicated platforms to book low-cost carriers. Pyton Flight Portal. Pyton is a travel technology company that develops travel applications for OTAs and TMCs. Since 2015 Pyton has been a part of the Amadeus IT group. In partnership with Amadeus, they are working on the low-cost booking platform that will be integrated with Amadeus Travel Platform. The platform is called Pyton Flight Portal and includes over 100 LCCs. It will allow travel managers to book budget airlines and full-service carriers through a single interface. The API of the platform is XML-based. The number of low-cost airlines supported by Pyton is quite large tfFlight. Travelfusion offers its platform tfFlight for online travel agencies, TMCs, metasearches, and tour operators. The platform consolidates data from LCCs and hybrid carriers available via a single API. Among the benefits are easy integration with desktop and mobile interfaces, integration with PNRs, and rich content capabilities. How to source tickets via low-cost carrier aggregators’ API To register on the platforms listed above, you should contact their sales representatives. They will provide you with developer information to enable you to connect to the required API and source flight information. Pros: A single API distribution via a dedicated platform offers wide capabilities for sourcing LCCs, hybrid, ultra-low-cost, and full-content airlines. They also offer technical support and management interfaces to work with or integrate their systems into existing technical solutions of your travel agency. Perhaps, the biggest advantage is that you specify which type of airlines you want to source. Choosing from the vast base of carriers, you will also be able to distribute bundled/unbundled content as they are XML capable. Cons: It’s also a question of price whether to use a dedicated budget airlines portal or not. The integration costs may vary from platform to platform. Nevertheless, there are no visible cons except for integration. Conclusion The competition intensifies in the budget sector. For example, Norwegian Air Shuttle experiences severe financial difficulties, canceling routes and selling aircraft to survive the competition with Ryanair. At the same time, Ryanair canceled routes and lost staff that left for Norwegian. Low-cost airlines are now starting to concentrate on indirect bookings more, while full-service carriers struggle to push through their direct channels. It’s interesting how budget airlines gradually become similar to traditional airlines, offering bundled ancillaries, operating long-haul flights, and contracting GDSs to sell more. Initially focusing on leisure customers, LCCs now are able to reach business travelers via indirect channels. So online travel agencies now can reach budget airlines freely via dedicated platforms and global distribution systems.
No Event found matching your search.
Return To Home