News
SkyTeam first alliance to launch metasearch technology
September 28th 2018
SkyTeam, often regarded as the weakest of the three global airline alliances because of its comparatively lower member carrier ratings, this week announced its new digital metasearch tool. Read More »
The new technology allows alliance customers to plan and book trips on all 20 SkyTeam carriers. It shows real-time availability, schedule and pricing information for 1,074 destinations on one platform. SkyTeam is the first alliance to offer such a comprehensive flight search tool. Star and oneworld have announced similar initiatives.
“Find Flights is the most used online function for the millions of unique visitors to our site each year. The majority of them tell us they want to book travel online with ease,” said SkyTeam CEO, Kristin Colvile. “SkyTeam’s latest technology innovation delivers a tool that simplifies searching for flights online and makes it easier to earn Frequent Flyer miles by booking within our alliance.”
Colvile took the SkyTeam CEO chair on July 1 soon after the alliance launched the SkyLink Digital Spine, a technology-based functionality that allows member airlines to access other members’ seat maps and cross-sell ancillary products to passengers. The functionality translates messages between airlines using APIs and IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology.
Colvile said the Digital Spine was “a game changer in the industry”, not least because it made working together much easier. “In the current environment, if you want to connect with another airline, you have to effectively write the language of the airline to which you are connecting,” she said.
“With the Digital Spine, instead of asking a member to effectively learn 20 languages and go through the process of individually connecting to 20 members, we are almost a translator. You can speak to one another in the same language and we will do the translation. My vision, the SkyTeam vision, is that the customer will have the same home carrier or preferred carrier experience no matter which member carrier she or he flies.”
SkyTeam’s Asia-Pacific members are Taiwan’s China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
