Travelport unveils tool to customise flight search

Travelport has launched its new Search Control Console, a customisable tool for flight search in real time.

The company said the application is its latest innovation in intelligent flight search, which enables travel agencies to fine tune the search results to their customers’ needs.

For example, agents can use the application to eliminate particular transit airports that they know from experience have a poor customer experience, or prohibit a connection point for a set time period if the area has been affected by a volcanic ash cloud or another natural disaster.

The tool removes labour-intensive ‘intelligence coding’, or the need to continually send instructions to frontline sales staff, saving both time and money.

Agencies can use also the search modifiers within the application to meet airline sales targets.

The application is available to subscribers of the Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan systems worldwide.

Click here to see the video demonstration of the Search Control Console.

Sustained passenger growth for APAC airlines

Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of 18.3 million international passengers in June 2013, a 7.1% growth compared to the same month last year in preliminary traffic figures from theAssociation of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

While the figures showed sustained growth in international passenger traffic there is, however, prolonged weakness in air cargo markets.

International passenger traffic, in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew by 5.7% while available seat capacity expanded by 6.4%, a 0.5% fall in the average international passenger load factor to 79.6% for the month.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general (pictured left), said APAC airlines carried a total of 107 million international passengers for the first half of the year, a 5.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

“Demand for air travel remains relatively robust, maintaining the established growth trend and still outpacing expectations of more moderate growth in the wider economy. Air cargo markets, however, remain depressed with Asian airlines reporting a 2.4% decline in freight traffic for the first six months of the year, reflecting persistent weakness in global trade conditions.”

Prospects for the second half of the year remain challenging due to uncertainty in the global economic outlook, he added. “But Asian airlines are still confident about future growth prospects and are continuing to invest in further route development and customer service initiatives.”

MTT to develop mobile apps for LAN and TAM airlines

Mobile solutions provider for the airline industry, Mobile Travel Technologies Ltd (MTT), has signed a contract with LAN Airlines andTAM Airlines, 
both members of the LATAM Airlines Group, to develop their mobile apps for the iPhone and Android devices, as well as mobile web offering.

MTT will deliver the apps and mobile web under the LAN and TAM brands for their respective markets. The apps’  development will be phased over the coming months based on meeting the immediate needs of its customers for the mobile channel to ensure the best user experience and increased 
mobile engagement over time.

Eli Senerman, senior VP direct channels for LATAM Airlines Group, said, “A key objective of the LATAM Airlines Group is to provide a superior travel experience for our passengers. Delivering a comprehensive customer focused mobile 
channel is integral to this strategy, as we continue to grow and meet the needs of our customers across the region and worldwide.”

The LATAM Airlines Group was formed in June 2012 following the merger of LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines, the leading carriers in Chile and Brazil respectively. The group flies to over 135 destinations in 22 countries, and carried over 60 million passengers each year.