Ryanair In Talks With GDS Providers To Distribute Fares Via Travel Agencies

Ryanair has confirmed to technology website Tnooz that it is in talks with all three GDSs (global distribution systems) Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre to distribute its fares through travel agencies.

The airline’s new head of groups and corporate travel, Lesley Kane, said no agreement has been reached with any of the three main distribution players, or if it will opt for a multi or exclusive GDS strategy, but given there is now a dedicated division targeting corporate travelers and groups it indicates a significant softening of its previous strategy of not wishing to work with agencies.

Ms. Kane said with a target of carrying some 110 million passengers by 2019, up from 81 million in 2014, on 420 aircraft (175 of them new, arriving from September this year), Ryanair is looking to bring in new customers via new channels to fill the planes.

“This isn’t entirely a revolution, as many with long memories will recall. Ryanair was on Galileo, Worldspan, Sabre and Amadeus until around ten years ago, but the carrier deliberately adopted the direct-only model to take advantage of the massive jump in users searching and booking via the web,” Tnooz reported.

Details are expected to be disclosed in the coming weeks.

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