Virtual Interlining (VI) is reshaping the global travel landscape by enabling passengers to seamlessly combine flights from multiple airlines, even in the absence of formal interline agreements.
This innovation offers travellers greater flexibility in route selection and access to more affordable fares, making it a game-changer in the aviation industry.
As VI continues to gain traction, self-connecting trips are becoming an integral part of modern travel.
Research from ICF indicates that the number of self-connecting passengers (55 million currently a year worldwide) that this number will double in the next five years.
This surge is driven by the increasing demand for cost-effective travel options and the expansion of low-cost carriers (LCCs) worldwide, of which almost every journey includes at least one LCC option.
Challenges
However, the self-connecting journey can be risky. Baggage reclaim and re check-in is time consuming, which escalates the difficulty of transfer.
Once the flight disruption occurs, like the unforeseen cancel and delay, passengers will be stranded by the concern of missing the connections and difficulties in re-booking the flights.
Despite these hurdles, the industry players are joining the stride to refine virtual interlining solution, raising its cost-saving and flight option appeals while ensuring streamlined and reassured self-transfer experience.
Unlocking the potential of VI: A B2C and B2B perspective
PKFARE, a leading travel product aggregator, is piloting the first VI product with key clients. “From our observation, VI products can bring added values to B2C and B2B scenarios.
“For B2C scenarios, travellers can access broader route options and more affordable rates,” said Jason Song, founder and president of PKFARE.
“Whereas, for B2B scenarios, airlines can extend their reach to new destinations and optimise occupancy rates on long-tail routes.”
The success of a VI product hinges on three key factors: data, algorithm efficiency, and operational capabilities.
“The accumulation of flight data and algorithm power determines if you can provide the best fit journeys for customers-competitive rates, optimal transfer locations, reasonable connection time,” Song said.
“The operation capability also matters a lot. For example, when the airlines or OTAs want to customise their VI offerings combined with their existing flight contents, do you have the flexibility and resource to tailor the products?
“When the travellers are affected by flight disruption, do you have the protection measure and timely post-service to relieve their anxiety and send them to their destinations successfully?”
Addressing the gaps
Despite ongoing advancements in VI technology, many challenges remain unsolved. PKFARE is set to refresh this landscape with the launch of its VI product.
As a B2B aggregator, PKFARE has more than 600 bookable airline contents with over 10 years of flight distribution experience, and optimised algorithms to find the best deal for customers.
“At our strong market, such as Southeast Asia, we can offer super competitive VI contents, usually 5-10% lower than other providers, thanks to our abundant data and advanced algorithm.
By leveraging PKFARE’s VI contents, travel sellers can unlock more competitive rates, nearly 600 more destinations and doubled flight options, elevating their appeals to budget-conscious travellers and driving booking growth to more regions.
As airlines and OTAs are increasingly calling for flexible combination of routes, it raises challenges for many VI product providers.
“We notice that most VI providers use their own data sets to build their solutions. But when airlines or OTAs need to combine routes in a way that works for them specifically, things get tricky,” added Song.
PKFARE’s VI solution also shines for customised itineraries. It’s able to combine the VI contents catering to client demands, including or excluding certain airlines, and fine tune the minimum connection time according to client’s customer travel pattern.
With the pilot of the VI product underway, one of the biggest pain points for self-connecting travellers is the fear of missed connections and the resulting chaos. When a flight is delayed or cancelled, the last thing a traveller wants to deal with is the headache of trying to rebook and deal with extra costs.
“We’ve heard it all from travellers: missed connections, rebooking nightmares, hidden fees.” said Jason Song. “That’s why we’ re dedicated to building a full-service solution.
“If a traveller misses a connection, we aim to automatically refund the unused flight and reissue new tickets. It’s seamless, hassle-free, and it puts the customer first.”
PKFARE’s focus on data-driven solutions means that travellers can expect more transparency and support throughout their journey, including real-time disruption notifications, baggage allowance for each flight segment, and clear refund/change policies. These features streamline operations for travel sellers while improving the overall traveller experience.
“In the mid-long term, I am confident that we can redefine the VI product by not only bringing the most budget-friendly and flexible flight contents, but also streamlining each self-connecting journeys with top-notch post services.”
Reference
- OAG: https://www.oag.com/blog/reshaping-airline-journeys-virtual-interlining
- Altexsoft: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/connecting-flight/
- Kiwi.com: https://media.kiwi.com/articles-and-interviews/ten-years-of-virtual-interlining/
- TripStack pitch at Phocuswright: https://www.phocuswire.com/Summit-pitch-TripStack
