Indigo agreement a game-changer

FAST-GROWING Indian low cost carrier Indigo has signed its first ever GDS agreement, with Travelport to offer the airline’s full range of fares and ancillary products to customers worldwide. Speaking to travelbulletin during a visit to Australia late last month, Travelport global ceo Gordon Wilson said he was particularly excited that Travelport had been chosen as the carrier’s key distribution partner. “We’re the only GDS that Indigo is planning to participate in,” he said, with the airline selecting Travelport because of the ability to interface via a comprehensive XML Application Programming Interface. “Effectively this is full-on NDC,” Wilson said, “It’s not just a list of base fares and availability - we are reaching into their system live to access everything - even the quirky ways they name their meals”. Indigo is seen as a key addition to Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding solutions, with the carrier having around 400 aircraft and an extensive domestic network within the rapidly expanding Indian market - as well as aspirations for international short haul expansion via its A320 fleet. India is already the third biggest market for GDS in the world, Wilson said, just trailing Germany and the US, “and it won’t be long before it’s bigger than Gernany” he said. The Indigo deal, which goes live this month, complements other LCC arrangements that Travelport has in place, including pacts with Easyjet, Ryanair, Airasia and more. Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding solutions are now used by around 180 airlines including the recent addition of Emirates which now offers its full range of fare families and ancillaries via the system. Wilson also highlighted other recent developments for Travelport, including the establishment of a new Travelport Digital division which encompasses acquisitions such as mobile app developer MTT and Melbourne-based corporate travel platform Locomote. Locomote, which is now 95% owned by Travelport, has a new management team and a global vision which is set to see the business rapidly expand both locally and internationally in the coming years. The operation has now formally rebranded as Travelport Locomote, and offers all of Travelport’s content including richly branded airfares and ancillaries and over 650,000 hotels, allowing travellers to make their own bookings in compliance with company policy. Locomote has flagged plans to open an office in the UK, while Wilson said the operation will target large TMCS in Australia and New Zealand, and is also working on interfaces to mid office systems with a view to a “full bore launch in January 2017”. On other fronts Wilson said Travelport was “doing very well in the online space,” with online continuing to outperform offline by a factor of three to five times. He said a number of Travelport’s major overseas OTA customers were looking to expand their operations into Australia. “They have a borderless approach,” he said.