A BIT ABOUT BRITISH AIRWAYS
British Airways is a global airline that brings people, places, and diverse cultures closer together. For more than 100 years, it鈥檚 been helping travelers see the world. And now, the airline itself is on a new journey to even better content distribution, aided by modern agency retailing and 乐播传媒+.
A CUSTOMER-FIRST APPROACH TO DISTRIBUTION
鈥淓very customer matters,鈥� says Sam Robinson, Head of Distribution at British Airways. We鈥檙e chatting with Sam at British Airways鈥� international headquarters at Waterside, right beside London鈥檚 Heathrow Airport.
This is a place where big ideas are born and brought to life 鈥� ideas that prioritize customers in everything the airline does, both strategically and operationally. Today, Sam is sitting down with us to talk more about British Airways鈥� customer-first approach to distribution, and the value that travel agencies offer to the airline.
鈥淥ur customers use agencies for lots of reasons 鈥� for help finding the right trip, comparing options, and for business travel. So, it鈥檚 really important for us to deliver our offers effectively to those shoppers. That鈥檚 part of how we prioritize traveler needs, always鈥�.
Earlier this year, British Airways is committed to enhancing NDC for agencies. This strategy stood out compared to other airlines that were, at the time, restricting NDC content to agencies. British Airways鈥� approach has since clearly proven to be .
鈥淲e want to provide a retailing experience that reflects what we can offer on the direct channel. We want our content and our flights to be available where they want to purchase it. That鈥檚 why we work with 乐播传媒 鈥� it helps our agency customers easily connect to NDC.鈥�
TRAVEL AGENCIES AT A CROSSROADS
鈥淚f you think about it, travel agencies today are kind of at a crossroads,鈥� says Sam. 鈥淭here鈥檚 all this new content, there鈥檚 new technology, new distribution capability, and they need to figure out how to navigate all this. Plus there鈥檚 a whole bunch of new customer expectations when it comes to retailing 鈥� and that鈥檚 not just in the airline industry.鈥�
He continues, 鈥淲e need to change our technology to be able to deliver on these new expectations. Part of our 拢7 billion transformation program is enhancing our commercial architecture and using technology to really put travelers at the forefront of everything we do鈥�.
鈥淭ravel agencies drive significant value, not just for us as a business, but also for the traveler,鈥� he continues. 鈥淣aturally, they help us reach more business travelers, who have really complex needs. But they also offer more support for leisure customers and know what makes a great experience for them. That鈥檚 why they鈥檙e a critical part of the booking ecosystem鈥�.
DELIVERING MORE VALUE THROUGH NDC
Clearly, NDC is a fundamental part of modern retailing for British Airways. We asked Sam to tell us a little bit about what this content offers to travel agencies. He replies, 鈥淯ltimately, it鈥檚 about being able to do more for the traveler. Giving them more transparency, more choice, more customization, and the best trip combinations enriched with more detail to help make a better final decision鈥�.
鈥溊植ゴ�+ helps us deliver by showing our NDC offers in a way that鈥檚 clean and easy to understand. Having that NDC capability really enables us to move toward that retailing mentality.鈥�
鈥淚f you think about how we used to sell flights, previously it was very schedule driven, not product driven. NDC allows us to distribute the richer products and richer content that our customers expect from us. You can still search for that schedule, of course. But we can now retail various different products too.鈥�
The challenge for travel agencies is getting all content sources (e.g. NDC, EDIFACT, Low Cost Carrier, Hotel, Car, and Rail) in one convenient place. And when it comes to selling multi-source content, search results can appear several times on screen, which is really overwhelming to navigate. Sam adds, 鈥淏y integrating into our NDC APIs, 乐播传媒 helps us distribute content to agencies and their customers in a simple, clean way. It helps agencies manage the huge amount of content that鈥檚 out there, aggregates it all into one place, and helps simplify complex servicing.鈥�
WORKING WITH TRAVELPORT+ FOR MODERN RETAILING
But, he adds, 鈥淢odern retailing is about more than just NDC. It鈥檚 about meeting expectations 鈥� old and new. And it鈥檚 about offering the same kind of shopping experiences customers get when interacting with digital businesses in other industries. We need to go beyond not just what we want to deliver, but what customers want to see鈥�.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all going on the same technology transformation journey. At British Airways, these huge changes that we鈥檙e undertaking in our commercial architecture are creating more ways to distribute better content. But we鈥檙e not alone, everyone in the travel value chain is on that same journey. As a technology partner, 乐播传媒 helps make things simpler for us all.鈥�
He added, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a really diverse team and it鈥檚 a key advantage in making NDC successful for us. Culturally, it鈥檚 really important for us to work with a partner that shares the same ethos of progressing big change through teamwork.鈥�
Looking ahead, there鈥檚 plenty more to be achieved together too. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited about the next steps for us working with 乐播传媒, particularly in the area of servicing. Agents will start to see more personalization, more bundles, and that鈥檚 what NDC enables us to distribute to our customers.鈥� He concludes 鈥淣DC and modern retailing are a journey. We鈥檙e on that journey together. Really this is just the start. We鈥檙e moving toward a whole new world where we can retail better鈥�.
