GDS News: Travelport Moves Ahead on Merchandising

Travelport said the final component of its Merchandising Platform, Travelport Rich Content and Branding, is in development with several airlines and is scheduled to be launched over the coming months.

The platform will allow airlines to control how their product is visually presented and described to travel agents.

Other Travelport news
Meanwhile, Travelport rolled out several ancillary products from Air France-KLM to travel agents in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Agents can book and pay for checked bags on both airlines and Economy Comfort seating on KLM.

Travelport also signed a new agreement with UTair Aviation, a Moscow-based carrier that operates more than 100 daily flights to more than 110 destinations in Europe and central Asia.

Travelport signed its first distribution agreement with Eurolot, making the Polish regional airline’s fares and availability available to all Travelport agencies. Launched in 2011, Eurolot operates out of Krakow and Gdansk.

Eye on central Asia
In other GDS news, Abacus International and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives signed a strategic partnership agreement to collaborate on initiatives to develop corporate travel in the central Asian republics.

The aim is to facilitate knowledge transfer between multinational businesses developing commercial links with Kazakhstan, their travel management companies and corporate travel agencies and their Central Asian counterparts.

Also, Sabre Travel Network renewed its multiyear global distribution agreement with Sky Airline, a Chilean carrier that operates to Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. Users of the Sabre BizSite and GetThere online booking tools also will be able to access Sky’s flights and schedules.

And PaperFlies, a Dutch online travel agency, signed a multiyear agreement with Travelport for access to Worldspan’s global travel content.