Routehappy parent ATPCO agrees Amadeus and Sabre content deals

Deals open up distribution via GDSs, apps and APIs

ATPCO has agreed deals with the world’s two leading GDSs, Amadeus and Sabre, to distribute it Routehappy rich airline content.

The agreement with Amadeus covers travel seller and traveller applications, as well as flight shopping APIs which are used by many corporate booking tools and online travel agencies.

The agreement also includes rights to integrate rich content into New Distribution Capability offers agents will use to differentiate airlines.

As part of the retailing agreement, Amadeus will also support ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront (NGS) standard, which helps sales channels modernise the shopping experience for consumers.

Decius Valmorbida, president travel channels at Amadeus, said: “By integrating Routehappy’s rich content into the Amadeus Travel Platform, travellers and travel sellers alike will benefit from the enhanced ability to compare travel provider offers through flight attributes, photos, and richer descriptions.

“This is yet another step in Amadeus’ strategy to drive the digital transformation of the travel industry, and adds to initiatives such as the work we are doing with ATPCO on the Next Generation Storefront™ (NGS), and the progress we are making with new standards such as NDC and One Order.

“These are the stepping stones towards a true retailing environment in travel, that we are putting in place together with our customers and industry partners.”

Robert Albert, executive vice president retailing at ATPCO and formerly Routehappy chief executive, added:

“ATPCO’s retailing agreement with Amadeus represents the culmination of nearly ten years of focus by a great number of passionate and visionary professionals across our industry, each focused on bringing high quality and scalable rich content solution to the airline industry.

“With IATA’s New Distribution Capability, ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront™, Routehappy Rich Content, and now Amadeus’ active participation, modernized flight shopping is finally here at scale.

“Over the next five years, world-class airline retailing will become the norm, making flight selling much more valuable for the industry and providing consumers many more choices for a better shopping experience. The airline industry has just taken a giant leap forward.

The deal with Sabre will enable it to distribute ATPCO’s Routehappy content to Sabre-connected travel agencies, online travel agencies and other travel buyers and airline IT customers.

Building upon the companies’ existing partnership, the new agreement will Sabre’s “omni-channel” retailing and distribution strategy for traditional and NDC-enabled solutions.

ATPCO said integrating its content into Sabre’s offer engines and agency points of sale will help airlines better sell their products the way that they want across all channels.

Wade Jones, president of Sabre Travel Network, said: “Our expanded agreement with ATPCO further demonstrates Sabre’s commitment to modernize the airline retailing experience for our customers through next generation retailing, distribution and fulfillment capabilities.

“This long-term agreement will allow us to enhance our leading air shopping solutions with ATPCO’s Routehappy Rich Content today and in the future as the airline industry continues to evolve.”

Additionally, Sabre will continue to support ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront™ (NGS) standard, which helps sales channels modernize the shopping experience for consumers.

“Sabre has been a key partner with ATPCO and other industry players to help develop and test a new, innovative approach to shopping based on NGS standards.

With this new agreement, ATPCO is now an authorised provider of airline rich content to Sabre, and Sabre is now an authorised distributor of Routehappy Rich Content.

In addition to API access, ATPCO will also provide flat file access to Routehappy Rich Content to Sabre for the first time.

This accelerates the rate at which Sabre can integrate Routehappy’s content across its applications including Sabre Red 360 and Sabre Dev Studio APIs and in airline direct channels.

Al;bert said: “ATPCO’s new long term retailing agreement with Sabre demonstrates the momentum of industry-wide transformation in flight shopping.

“Not long ago, Sabre introduced sweeping improvements to how travel agents shop for airline products with a new graphical interface and Routehappy Rich Content, representing important first steps in a journey of change for our industry.

“Now Sabre is committed to NDC, NGS and full integration of Routehappy Rich Content across its travel agency and airline applications. The tipping point for modernizing flight shopping at scale is finally here.”