Amadeus Airline Fare Families creates new higher-yield merchandising opportunities for airlines

Published on : Monday, January 27, 2014

Amadeus is working with two airlines to help them significantly advance their merchandising capabilities through travel sellers, both corporate and leisure-focused, by using Amadeus Airline Fare Families.
Finnair and Brussels Airlines are launching the display module of the Amadeus solution with travel agency partners Finland Travel Bureau and Sirius Travel in test markets. Once the complete solution is launched, Airlines will be able to:
• Package booking classes, fares and services into branded products for the travel agency channel, each associated with a name that reflects its attributes
• Significantly differentiate their offer from those of their competitors, through a comparison of fares that is based on service and value as well as price
• Maximise revenues thanks to an upsell module, which provides relevant, targeted offers to travellers
“Personalising and merchandising our product in the most effective way is a critical objective for Finnair. Amadeus Fare Families is an important step in our journey to deliver the most attractive offer to the customer” said Allister Paterson, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair. He added: “As consumer travel needs evolve, travellers are looking for fares that offer them diffrentiation and value, not simply a low cost. This new fare families capability enhances our ability to deliver choice and value to our customers via our travel agency partners.”
Mark Hellemans, Coordinator CRS and New Technologies Sirius Travel said: “The ability to provide our customers with increased transparency and visibility on air offers empowers us to help travellers make more informed decisions, thus reinforcing our role as travel consultants”. Susanne Lindroos, Director Business Development & ICT SMT Suomen Matkatoimisto, remarked: In addition, airline fare families are seamlessly integrated into our booking flow, which makes the whole process simple and efficient”.
Decius Valmorbida, Head of Distribution Marketing at Amadeus commented: “Improving yield and profit is a crucial objective for airlines, and many are looking to innovative merchandising techniques as a means of achieving this. Fare families provide airlines with an opportunity to show their value and differentiate based on specific brand attributes, in a manner that is proven to have a successful impact on yield. In fact, this approach is so attractive to travellers that some corporations have even formalised particular fare families within their business travel policies, allowing employees to select a particular fare family and thus assure themselves of certain optional services and fare conditions as a result.”
At this stage, the two airlines are launching the display module of Amadeus Fare Families. This module will enable the carriers to package booking classes and to show the name of the fare family as well as the services offered (plus those available at an extra cost), allowing for an apples-to-apples comparison.
The complete solution will be available worldwide as of 2014.