AirAsia joins low-cost shift to GDS distribution with Travelport deal

AirAsia joins low-cost shift to GDS distribution with Travelport deal

Another week and GDS Travelport welcomes another lowcost carrier on to the agency distribution platform.

Another week and GDS Travelport welcomes another lowcost carrier on to the agency distribution platform.

This time it is AirAsia that has followed the likes of Ryanair and easyJet by announcing it is to feature on the firm’s new air merchandising platform.

The new partners hailed the agreement as ground-breaking, AirAsia and AirAsia X’s flights being made available on the GDS for the first time.

AirAsia has signed up for Travelport’s merchandising technology including its aggregated shopping functionality.

This enables travel agents to shop, compare and book AirAsia and AirAsia X flights alongside those offered by traditional carriers in the same booking workflow.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group chief executive, 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.”

Derek Sharp, managing director of global distribution sales and services at Travelport, added:

“I am delighted that one of the world’s highest profile, low cost airlines has selected Travelport as its partner and is fully embracing what we can uniquely offer through our industry-leading merchandising technology.

“We look forward to helping AirAsia extend their distribution channel whilst providing more in-demand, low cost air content to our 67,000 travel agency subscribers worldwide.”

AirAsia is the largest low cost carrier in Asia, serving a network covering 87 destinations.

During its 12 years of operations it has carried over 220 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 150. 

The agreement means that Travelport agents will be able to search and book  fares and ancillaries such as checked-in bags, advanced seat selection and in-flight meals offered by all airlines under the AirAsia group.