The five-star airline will leverage ATPCO’s third-party distribution reach and one-stop content management hub to support its indirect and NDC channel merchandising strategies
ATPCO today announced it has signed a multi-year deal with Qatar Airways for its Routehappy merchandising solution. The agreement will see ATPCO create and distribute all content types—Amenities, UTAs (Universal Ticket Attributes), and UPAs (Universal Product Attributes)—for the carrier to all third-party distribution channels that subscribe to Routehappy. Content will be distributed via indirect channels.
The deal will enable Qatar Airways to update visual content for multiple sales channels and industry partners such as Amadeus, Kayak, Sabre, and Trip.com so each channel is consuming consistent and accurate content straight from the source. When sales channels show only price and schedule, airlines cannot showcase the investments they have made in products, services, and travel experiences, and consumers can’t fully appreciate the value included with a ticket. ATPCO’s own internal data from airline and channel partners reinforces that consumers respond better to flight shopping results that visually showcase the flying experience over commoditized displays.
ATPCO’s Retailing API currently receives nearly 30 million calls a day, with more than 50 sales channels consuming its content. This ensures Qatar Airways merchandising content will have a broad reach with sales channels that are selling the carriers' flights. By leveraging the reach of the Routehappy merchandising solution, Qatar Airways can create and publish content like UPAs once and distribute them everywhere they want that content consumed.
Qatar Airways has won numerous awards each year for its excellent customer service, premium products, and five-star travel experience, including the prestigious Skytrax award for the “Airline of the year” in 2022, along with Qatar Airways subsidiary Hamad International Airport being named the “best Airport in the World, two years in a row in 2022, by the Skytrax World Airport. However, none of this is currently visually portrayed in the shopping displays of third-party channels. With this ATPCO agreement, the carrier will be able to showcase its content on third-party distribution channels more easily while having the ability to integrate all Routehappy content types on Qatar Airways’ NDC channel, giving passengers and travel agents time-sensitive and relevant content as they shop.
“Flight shopping is all about the display and how a brand presents its product to the consumer. ATPCO welcomes Qatar Airways to the Routehappy family, and we look forward to distributing visually compelling content that highlights their five-star products and services,” said Chris Phillips, Vice President of Global Sales at ATPCO. “With this new partnership, Qatar Airways can realize untapped revenue benefits through opportunities like improved branded fare upsell. Global flight shoppers will be able to visualize their travel options in the shopping path and choose the experience that best fits their needs.”
Qatar Airways Signs Merchandising Deal with ATPCO