Travelport-connected Travel Agencies Now Avoid Emirates GDS Surcharge

Travelport, a leading company in travel retail and Emirates, one of the world’s largest international airlines, have reached a commercial agreement that allows Travelport-connected travel agencies to avoid the airline’s surcharge on bookings via Global Distribution Systems (GDS).

Furthermore, the companies announced a new long-term agreement to enable the distribution of Emirates NDC content via Travelport’s next-generation platform, Travelport+, and an extension to its longstanding IT agreement.

“We are pleased to have reached key agreements with Travelport that take our decades-long partnership to the next level. Supported by the recent launch of Travelport+, these new deals will further cement Emirates as the airline of choice for travellers that want highly personalized offers and access to the world’s best destinations,” said Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates.

Since July 1, Travelport’s global network of travel agency partners has been upgraded to a dedicated channel that provides access to un-surcharged content. These agencies also continue to benefit from a graphically rich experience when searching for and booking Emirates branded fares, as well as greater access to its ancillary offers, thanks to a long-term extension of the airline’s existing agreement to use Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising tool.

As part of the deal, Travelport-connected agencies will be able to gain simplified access to Emirates’ NDC content and services via Travelport Smartpoint and the company’s enhanced RESTful / JSON APIs once the agencies sign new NDC specific agreements with both companies.

Travelport and Emirates continue to progress the NDC technical solution for travel retailers worldwide and are now in the process of developing enhanced features and functionality that will, when complete, be gradually rolled out.

Travelport will also continue to provide Emirates with its industry-leading pricing, shopping and ticket rebooking technology as part of the agreement, to support the airline in the delivery of advanced shopping and rebooking options within its own internal sales channels, including its NDC channel and www.emirates.com.

“This series of agreements highlights the determination of both Travelport and Emirates to re-invent travel retailing and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Travelport Chief Commercial Officer Travel Partners Jason Clarke said.