Tag Archives: Gordon Wilson

Japan Airlines and Travelport have agreed to form a joint venture to take ownership of Travelport Japan K K (Travelport Japan) and JAL’s 100 per cent owned subsidiary, Axess International Network. Under the unified Travelport Axess brand, the joint venture will operate a Global Distribution System (GDS) tailored to the needs of the Japanese travel industry. The proposed joint venture, which will operate under the brand name Travelport Axess, will combine Axess’ expertise in Japan and Travelport’s global technology leadership. Yoriyuki Kashiwagi, Executive Officer of International Passenger Sales, Japan Airlines, said, “We believe that the future of travel will be transformed by technological innovation. I am confident that Travelport Axess will be able to help Japanese travel agents to respond to growing global demands by offering services based on state-of-the-art technology.” Travelport Axess will continue to offer travel agents services through Axess’ GDS platform, and enable access to Travelport’s GDS platforms, Apollo and Galileo. The proposed joint venture will provide online, mobile and corporate travel propositions including global booking and expense management tools as well as access to New Distribution Capability (NDC) content, offering Japanese travel agencies and their customers the best of locally developed products with best-in-class global connectivity and capabilities. Gordon Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Travelport, commented, “This announcement and our ongoing partnership with Japan Airlines is a significant advance in the provision of state-of-the-art technology for the Japanese travel industry.”

Travelport has won a competitive tender process undertaken by Air India for the sole provision of distribution of its domestic flight content. The contract will begin to come into effect from November 2018 and be fully implemented by the end of 2019. The agreement confirms Air India’s continued deployment of Travelport Rich Content and Branding, now used by over 270 airlines. This displays airlines’ graphical content, their fares families and a full range of ancillary products. Travelport has seen a rapid expansion in India in recent years following the acquisition of business from the largest online travel agencies like MakeMyTrip, Ibibo, Yatra, EaseMyTrip and ClearTrip as well as working with corporate travel agencies and new entrants to the travel sector such as Paytm. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, said, “Air India is pleased to award this important contract to Travelport. In written submissions and in discussion with their team, the company demonstrated a clear understanding of our needs and displayed impressive technological and financial capability. As we make the switch to Travelport, we hope to be able to deliver even better value for money and a superior distribution to our customers in India and abroad.” Gordon Wilson, President and CEO, Travelport, commented, “Travelport is delighted to have been selected by Air India to provide these services. It is another welcome endorsement of our technology and our services in India. We look forward to implementing the agreement and delivering a world-class service to the airline.”

Gordon Wilson, the President and CEO of Travelport, highlighted the developments in technology shaping the travel industry. Speaking in Atlanta at The Beat Live, Wilson spoke about how indirect channels are embracing IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) API. He announced that Travelport is on schedule to launch its first version of this capability into a production environment this quarter. He expressed caution about NDC on issues such as the relative speed of response compared to the fast and accurate response times provided today in the indirect channel and the different interpretations among airlines of the NDC API. This, he said, could push up the cost to serve and time to implement. Wilson cited the progress already made in enabling airlines to merchandise their content to travel agency and corporate travel channels, the speed at which new airline products can be introduced, and the capabilities allowing airlines to make personalised or tailored offers.

Travelport announced a new global agreement with Al Tayyar Travel Group. As a result of this multi-year agreement with Travelport, Al Tayyar and its subsidiaries will continue to use Travelport’s open platform and benefit from its Universal API technology. This enables the Group’s agencies to develop and connect their systems to the widest choice of content and provide the integrated, personalized travel experiences that the connected traveller of today demands. Travelport’s industry leading point of sale tool, Travelport Smartpoint, also helps Al Tayyar’s agencies optimize services and develop their business globally. Commenting on the renewed agreement, Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Dawood, Chief Executive Officer & Board Director at Al Tayyar Travel Group, said: “The renewal of our agreement with Travelport demonstrates our commitment to serve the end traveler even better, by providing our agency partners with a rich choice of content.  We are delighted to continue building on the success we have enjoyed already from this fruitful partnership as we continue to develop our business.” Gordon Wilson, President and CEO of Travelport, added: “We are delighted that Al Tayyar Travel Group has chosen our platform once again to drive its agencies’ effectiveness and global expansion. The Group is a great partner and an impressive user of our technology. So, we are proud to play a major role in supporting its goals.”