TRAVELPORT, one of the world’s leading global distribution system (GDS) providers, used ATM to confirm that its innovative low-cost air solution will be available to travel agents in the UAE following a successful implementation across a number of European countries over the last 12 months.

The Travelport direct connect solution available on the Galileo platform includes content from leading low-cost airlines – easyJet, Norwegian, kulula, Wind Jet and bmibaby. Travelport also confirmed it is in discussions with a number of low-cost carriers in the Middle East. 

The company explained that the development of its direct connect product was a reflection of the growing importance of the low-cost air sector and the demands of its travel agency customers to have the content available through the GDS channel. The new direct connect participation option, which complements the traditional channel offering a further 60 low-cost carriers, has sparked considerable interest amongst the low-cost carrier community.

Since its launch in Europe, travel agents have reported greatly improved efficiency and productivity compared to booking via the web, which typically takes agents four times longer. In contrast to low-cost carrier websites and other GDS providers, the Travelport direct connect solution uniquely gives agents the ability to book low-cost carrier and traditional airline flights in the same passenger name record.

Rabih Saab, vice president, Middle East, Travelport said: “With the growing importance of the low-cost sector and the subsequent demands of our agency customers to have low-cost air content on the GDS, we are delighted to be able to make this additional low-cost carrier content available through their preferred booking channel.”  

The airline booking data is automatically handed off to the agency’s mid or back-office system for accounting purposes, giving agents the confidence that the availability and fares displayed are reliable and that the inventory and booking confirmation are obtained directly from the airline’s reservation system in real time.