Spotnana, known for itsTravel-as-a-Service platform, has collaborated with Copa Airlines to bring advanced NDC capabilities to travellers across Latin America. This integration, developed in just one day, provides travellers with direct access to Copa Airlines’ content, including sales promotions and other ancillary products.
“We are witnessing a growing demand for NDC content in Latin America from our largest global customers and are thrilled to partner with Copa Airlines to meet this demand,” stated Sarosh Waghmar, Founder and CEO of Spotnana.
Speaking to WiT, Waghmar said, “This is the fastest integration we’ve built to date. We developed our direct integration with Copa Airlines in a single day because our Travel-as-a-Service platform now includes a first-of-its-kind content framework designed to accelerate direct NDC integrations.”
He added, “This is further proof that the barriers to adopting NDC can be easily overcome by using modern infrastructure. Spotnana was designed from day one to work seamlessly with any source of travel content including NDC. Our Travel-as-a-Service platform runs in the cloud and uses microservices, extensible data structures, and open APIs. The deep direct connections we’re building with travel suppliers like Copa Airlines enable us to deliver the full benefits of NDC to our customers and channel partners.”
Copa Airlines, a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, is a passenger and cargo airline in Latin America. In its 76 years of operation, it has established the Hub of the Americas in Panama City as the continent’s leading hub. Copa Airlines also services destinations across North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. Copa consistently delivers on-time performance above 90%, among the best in the industry worldwide.
The integration between Spotnana and Copa Airlines also enables travellers to access Copa Connect’s schedules, fares, and ancillary services through Spotnana’s self-service platform.
Key features of the integration include:
- Access to sales promotions and ancillary products, including PriceLock, allowing travellers to hold a reservation for up to 7 days.
- Free reservation holds for 24 hours.
- Self-service cancellations, refunds, and exchanges, including support for multiple exchanges of the same fare.
- Avoidance of cost-recovery surcharges on reservations.
Dennis Cary, SVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Copa Airlines, commented, “The integration with Spotnana expands the reach of our non-surcharged NDC content, helping to accelerate the adoption of our Copa Connect program, which already accounts for more than 50% of agency tickets issued on Copa.”
Bill Brindle, VP of Content and Commercials at Spotnana, emphasised, “Our direct connection with Copa Airlines is an important step in our journey to develop the deepest NDC integrations with the world’s largest airlines. Spotnana’s Travel-as-a-Service platform is enabling next-generation travel experiences for Copa Airlines by taking advantage of everything that NDC has to offer as well as providing additional opportunities for innovation.”
On future opportunities, Waghmar told WiT, “We expect to deliver several more deep direct integrations this year to take full advantage of everything that NDC has to offer. Building our own direct NDC integrations gives us the opportunity to work closely with engineers across the travel ecosystem, which establishes us as a trusted innovation partner for NDC and beyond.”
