Bogotá-based Avianca has joined Skyscanner’s Direct Booking platform, enabling the Colombian airline to showcase its brand and upsell products to increase ancillary sales and mobile conversion.
The integration, powered by Amadeus Altéa NDC, makes Colombia’s flag carrier one of the first airlines in North or South America to sell directly within the Skyscanner marketplace using IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC).
In a statement, Skyscanner says with this solution Avianca is able to provide a single source of offers for travellers whether direct, via Skyscanner direct booking or from more traditional referral models.
The platform also gives the airline the opportunity to showcase its brand and upsell products to increase ancillary sales and mobile conversion.
“In addition, all these benefits come with a fully branded Avianca Airlines flow and checkout within the Skyscanner marketplace,” said Jhon Ruiz, Skyscanner’s senior commercial manager, Latin America.
“Our Direct Booking flow also significantly enhances the experience of our travellers, who can complete their booking with as little friction as possible specially in the web-mobile and app environment.’’
Avianca can upsell products via Skyscanner’s Direct Booking platform.
Avianca’s inventory can now be booked directly within Skyscanner by customers in the UK, US and Spain with the completion of the initial rollout. Additional markets will be deployed soon
According to Skyscanner, partners on the Direct Booking platform are reporting a 40% uplift in booking conversion, 20% uplift in average booking value and 50% uplift in mobile bookings.
Melany Cornejo, Avianca’s director of distribution, said the airline was proud to be the first in Latin America to integrate with Skyscanner to enhance the travel experience to its customers.
“We are committed to continue working along with industry partners to increase the NDC distribution coverage in these markets and connect our customers with Latin America”.
Edinburgh-based Skyscanner is the first travel marketplace with the capacity to display and sell directly through the NDC connectors, building this into its Direct Booking platform. The company is also the first aggregator to achieve IATA NDC Level 3 certification.
• All images credit: Avianca
