In the news: Airlines are the focus for this week – Qantas’ new distribution channel for travel agents, Condor’s planned expansion to Asia, Lufthansa’s biometric boarding in Miami
Airlines: Qantas transforms distribution model with new private channel
(Source: Qantas)
With the industry constantly evolving airlines are finding new ways to deliver deliver more personalised offers to travel sellers and travellers, and Qantas is doing just that through a new private channel.
The Qantas Channel, which will come into effect on August 1, 2019 is part of the airline’s broader digital strategy to enhance its booking systems, and modernise the way agents book fares and deliver personalised experiences to their customers.
The channel is a new agreement between the airline and its agency partners, said Qantas.
Agents who sign up to the channel will be able to offer customers a wider range of fares and new content sourced from NDC-enabled Qantas Distribution Platform, which is not currently available via traditional indirect booking systems.
The airline has inked distribution agreements with GDS Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport to make the channel available to agents globally, and is working with other regional GDS partners to deliver the channel.
The majority of Qantas’ key agency partners have agreed to participate in the Qantas Channel globally including Flight Centre, Helloworld, Corporate Travel Management, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, ATPI Voyager, CT Connections, Expedia Group, Egencia, Webjet, Consolidated Travel Group, Virtuoso and Express Travel Group.
The carrier is working closely with other agents to register them over the coming months.
Commenting on the airline’s new distribution model, Qantas chief customer officer Vanessa Hudson said: “The digital environment has changed the way we need to work with our trade partners, and our new technology paired with this new Qantas Channel agreement will support us on the journey to delivering our vision for our mutual customers.”
The Qantas Channel follows the launch of the Qantas Distribution Platform last year to enhance the airline retailing, booking and servicing capabilities for its trade partners.
Aviation: German airline Condor to expand presence in Asia
(Image credit – Malaysia’s National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur: pat138241/Getty Images )
Frankfurt-based German leisure airline Condor plans to spread its wings to more destinations across Asia, and has extended its distribution agreement with Sabre to assist with this development.
Condor said joining Sabre’s rich global travel marketplace in Asia was “essential” to its growth strategy.
“Now connected to over 425,000 travel agents globally we will be in a solid position to expand our reach across the Asia Pacific region and beyond,” Carsten Sasse, head of international sales at Condor commented.
“We will use this opportunity to evaluate the potential for new routes and eventually look towards options to offer an expanded destination portfolio to Australia and the South Pacific region.”
Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, air line of business, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific, added that apart from providing new airline content to agencies across the region the new agreement “will support Condor’s objectives to explore new routes and markets, and generate incremental revenue.”
The airline currently flies to more than 80 destinations throughout Asia. Africa, Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean. In Asia it has services to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket), Cambodia, (Siem Reap), Myanmar (Yangon), India (Goa) and Sri Lanka (Colombo).
For Malaysia, Condor is currently the only airline to offer it a direct connection to Germany with the launch of its thrice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt route on November 2, 2018.
Technology: Lufthansa’s first airline to use facial recognition for boarding flights from Miami
(Image credit: SITA)
No boarding pass and passport required, just look into the camera and you are good to go. That how passengers departing from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Munich, Germany, on Lufthansa flight 461 can now board their flights.
The simple photograph taken at Lufthansa’s boarding gate confirms the passengers’ identities and their authorisation to travel.
The biometric boarding is made possible through a partnership between MIA, Lufthansa, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and global air transport IT provider SITA.
CBP said the facial recognition verification process takes less than two seconds with a 99% matching rate.
“Collaboration with our Miami-Dade County, Lufthansa and SITA partners has resulted in real momentum toward enhancing both traveller safety and convenience at MIA. This has helped make the path forward in the implementation of a biometric entry-exit system that will transform travel for all flyers,” said CBP Miami Port director Christopher Maston.
Dr. Bjoern Becker, Lufthansa group senior director product management ground & digital services, concurred that biometric boarding was “an efficient and hassle-free form of travel that helps speed up the boarding process while also increasing security.”
The launch of biometric exit at MIA follows the airport’s February 2018 opening of America’s first all-biometric entry facility at Concourse E, which screens all international arrivals via facial recognition. The facility has decreased processing times by as much as 80%.
SITA and MIA have partnered on a number of innovative travel experience solutions, including Mobile Passport Control and MIA Airport Official, the airport’s mobile app.
According to Diana Einterz, SITA president, Americas, the global air transport IT provider has helped designed SITA Smart Path – a seamless biometric exit solution based on industry-standard common-use gates so it can be used by any other airline at MIA.
There will be more gates offering facial recognition boarding for passengers at MIA, as the airport expects to launch this technology with additional airlines this year.
• Featured image credit: milindri/Getty Images
