Ethiopian Airlines and Travelport, a global technology company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, have signed a new agreement. The renewed deal includes distribution on the Travelport+ platform, including New Distribution Capability (NDC) content from Ethiopian Airlines.
According to the airline, this agreement expands the ongoing travel retailing and distribution relationship between Travelport and Ethiopian, who was ranked the number one airline within the African continent by Business Insider earlier this year. Both companies are in the process of developing a strategic plan to provide agents access to NDC content and functionality from Ethiopian Airlines in the Travelport+ platform.
As part of the agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will also become a new participant in Travelport’s Rich Content & Branding (RC&B) programme. As a top 100 carrier booked through Travelport, the carrier is laying the foundation to ensure that Travelport-connected agencies can access the most robust, enriched Ethiopian Airlines’ content following its current fleet expansion.
The Chief Commercial Officer at Ethiopian Airlines, Lemma Yadecha, said, “As we are now investing in our ability to meet high demand for travel following the pandemic, it is crucial that we deepen our partnership with Travelport as they understand our need to efficiently deliver simplified access to our growing content.
“Travelport’s enhanced multi-sourced content capabilities within the Travelport+ platform will help us to provide agents and their travelers with quick, easy access to highly relevant offers and more choices to fit their needs. Our expanded agreement with Travelport and Rich Content & Branding will further enable us to drive more value for our travelers through today’s modern travel retailing environment.”
Also speaking, the Head of Regional Air Partners, EMEA at Travelport, David Gomes, said “Our renewed, expanded agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to include NDC content and Travelport RC&B is a significant step in evolving and modernizing Ethiopian’s retailing strategy. Travelport+ was built to manage multiple sources of content and effectively merchandize personalized and dynamic offers, which will greatly benefit the agency community and provide a better experience for Ethiopian’s travellers.”
