As direct bookings and NDC gain traction as key trends for airlines, some are questioning whether B2B intermediaries like a content aggregator will remain relevant. Will they become unnecessary? The answer depends on the value these intermediaries add to the overall value chain and, ultimately, to passengers.
How do airlines and travel sellers fulfill passenger demands?
Exploring the entire flight booking journey – from shopping to post-sales – reveals that neither airlines nor travel sellers can independently fulfill the wide range of evolving passenger demands.
Limited relevant options due to lack of virtual interlining
When shopping for flights, passengers seek instant access to all available options in one place, indicated by Travelport’s 2024 Modern Retailing Report. Travel sellers, as content aggregators, generally have broader content coverage, while airlines only display their own flights and those of their partners.
However, both airlines and travel sellers fall short of providing a full spectrum of virtual interlining options, meaning passengers may miss out on the best itineraries suited to their preferences.
Incomplete display of branded fares and ancillaries
Today’s passengers increasingly seek flexibility in their travel bookings and often are willing to pay for added comforts such as extra legroom, family seating, additional baggage allowance, and in-flight Wi-Fi.
Despite this, many travel seller platforms don’t fully display branded fares and ancillary services. To offer a comprehensive range of options, travel sellers need to integrate each airline’s API and standardize the different options to create an easy-to-use comparison experience. However, not all travel sellers have the technological capability or resources for this, resulting in an incomplete display of branded fares and ancillaries to passengers.
Barriers to post-sales efficiency
Passengers expect seamless post-sales services, but airlines and travel sellers often face obstacles in automating processes like flight changes, refunds, and disruption notifications. Passengers frequently encounter issues such as language barriers and complex airline procedures, while travel sellers rely on lengthy manual interventions.
Many of these challenges arise due to the absence of structured customer rule descriptions and a lack of standardized data exchange. As a result, many post-sales requests require time-consuming manual handling, often bouncing back to airlines for resolution. This not only hurts the passenger experience but also increases operational costs and damages airline brands.
Airlines and travel sellers need to connect better to deliver a satisfying passenger experience
Based on above, neither airlines nor travel sellers can fully meets passenger demands. Airlines and travel sellers need to better connect with each other to deliver a satisfying experience for end users.
The solution lies in collaboration, where it’s mutually beneficial model for airlines and travel sellers to work together to fulfill passenger demands. This is where B2B intermediaries like PKFARE can make a difference.
Expanding flight options through virtual interlining
Virtual interlining is transforming the aviation industry by combining flights from multiple full-service and low-cost carriers, offering passengers more flexible and efficient travel options.
According to OAG, the number of self-connecting passengers – those booking connecting flights from different airlines without interline agreements, either on their own or via virtual interlining platforms – has surged from 55 million to an estimated 179 million in 2022.
Recognizing this trend, PKFARE offers virtual interlining solutions to both airlines and travel sellers. These solutions allow airlines to expand their route coverage, while enabling travel sellers to present more diverse and cost-effective flight options. This not only provides passengers with a broader and more appealing selection but also drives higher conversion rates and customer retention for both airlines and travel sellers.
Offering flexible booking options with full display of branded fares and ancillaries
Direct integration between airlines and travel sellers can be time-consuming and costly, particularly due to the technological challenges of normalizing diverse flight options in multi-to-multi data exchange.
PKFARE’s Connectivity Service addresses these challenges by offering an all-in-one API that minimizes the technology investment required from both airlines and travel sellers. This ensures seamless integration and full display of flight content, allowing passengers to select the best options for their needs. Consequently, both airlines and travel sellers experience optimized revenue stream and higher passenger satisfaction. Additionally, airlines gain long-term advantages from enhanced content visibility and differentiation in the market.
Automating post-sales services for greater efficiency
PKFARE offers an exceptional Post-Sales Automation Solution, with its API highly compatible with travel sellers’ standard operating procedures. It addresses the legacy challenges of the inconsistent airline rules across different channels and scenarios, as well as the lack of structured rule description, by integrating structured rules from GDS systems and PKFARE’s proprietary database.
Currently, PKFARE supports automatic post-sales refund and change for nearly 300 airlines, with airline rules interpretation accuracy of over 90%.
This reduces refund processing times by up to 8 hours and saves travel sellers 600-1,000 minutes daily, all while enhancing the passenger experience and protecting the airline’s brand reputation.
Enhancing the overall booking experience with a cache solution
Booking efficiency – characterized by fast response and accurate data – is one of the key factors impacting conversion rates and customer retention.
To optimise the booking process, PKFARE’s Cache Solution adds substantial value by reducing server loads, improving system stability and scalability, and shortening response times to under 3 seconds. With a price change ratio of less than 10%, this solution ensures travel sellers have the same level of data accuracy as the airlines themselves. Ultimately, passengers benefit from a faster, smoother booking process, free from the frustrations of inaccurate pricing.
To find more about the different solutions PKFARE offers, click here.
