LONDON – Travelport, a global technology company that powers travel bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, and Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier of Malaysia announced that they have reached a multi-year renewal agreement.
This effectively means that the pair will continue to bring Malaysia Airlines’ content to Travelport-connected customers worldwide.
With the new expanded multi-source content agreement, Travelport customers will also be able to access the airlines’ future New Distribution Capability (NDC) content via Travelport+, Travelport’s next-generation travel retailing platform.
Malaysia Airlines comments
Izham Ismail, Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airlines comments, “Travelport has continued to impress us with its technical knowledge and dedication in helping us to fulfill our business needs throughout our decades-long partnership.”
“We are confident that Travelport+, Travelport’s next-generation travel retailing platform will be our strategic partner in achieving our future business goals. Our expanded partnership is important to our long-term transformative business plan, especially with our NDC initiative implementation.”
Since Malaysia’s international borders officially reopened on April 1, 2022, flight bookings overall have increased and have shown an upward trajectory. This has rejuvenated the aviation industry that was hard hit by Covid-19.
The expanded partnership between the online travel service provider and Malaysia Airlines will ensure smooth and seamless airline content delivery to all the Travelport-connected customers and travellers across the globe.
Travelport comments
Sue Carter, Head of Air Partners Asia Pacific at Travelport, says, “With this expanded multi-year distribution agreement renewal, we are thrilled to be working even closer with Malaysia Airlines to continue to deliver our Travelport Rich Content and Branding solution which helps to further elevate the airline’s retail product offerings through our Travelport+ platform.”
“Together, we will also be working hand in hand to embark on Malaysia Airlines’ NDC journey, jumpstarting innovations which will improve modern travel retail customer experiences.”
Travelport and the online travel market
Travelport observes on its website that the face of the travel industry is changing. In a similar fashion to other industries, ‘brick and mortar’ retail outlets have been fast replaced by the convenience of the world wide web and the virtual marketplace.
The global pandemic added another layer to this universal shift in consumer behaviour.
By the end of 2021, the global travel industry recovered more than 50% of its gross activity compared to pre-pandemic levels. And, if recovery continues along the same trajectory, it could reach 85% by the end of 2022.
But it seems that, if market research is correct, the simple convenience of being able to shop online for air travel services isn’t enough. They suggest that, after two years of air travel hiatus, and years of shopping online – air travel customers are seeking something more.
SOURCE: www.travelport.com
According to their research, almost half (43%) of US travellers do not enjoy booking travel. And if 43% of the world’s largest travel region are unhappy, the industry has a major problem.
Travelport aim to bridge that gap with the service they provide, and it will certainly be interesting to see how Malaysia Airlines customers benefit from that experience.
