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Increased Network Coverage for a leading Middle Eastern airline by enabling interlining and code-sharing through direct channels 

About the client

The client is a leading government-owned hybrid airline of the Middle East. It has rapidly developed an international network that covers the Middle East, GCC, Africa, Caucasus, Central Asia, Europe, and the Indian Subcontinent and flies to more than 90 destinations in 48 countries. The airline flies more than 10 million passengers per year.

Business Challenge

The client realized that their Direct Channels were constraints in the booking and selling process that involved their network interline partners. To overcome this limitation, the airline decided to implement the industry standard e-ticket functionality for their Direct Channels. The client approached Coforge to upgrade its Passenger Servicing System (PSS) with e-ticketing, interline and codeshare booking capabilities. The existing Passenger Service System (PSS), which was ticketless had to initially be upgraded to electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) compliance. This was a pre-requisite for interlining and code-sharing. Integration with various external systems had be enhanced to cater to the e-ticketing functionality for interline partners. The costs of the system changes were a major concern throughout this exercise.  

Our Solution

A team of experts from Coforge designed and developed an e-ticket module for the existing PSS system.
Depicted below is the process flow before and after e-ticketing was enabled. 

flydubai


The main features of the solution given by Coforge are:

  • E-Ticket:
    • The client services passengers through three channels viz. call center, website and travel agency portals. Coforge enabled e-ticketing for the direct channels i.e. the website and travel agency portals with the following functionalities: issue, re-issue, display, print and email.
    • Coupon controls and status updates
    • Group booking
    • Stock Management - e-ticket
    • Daily Sales report – various formats
    • Date/time and user/terminal stamp 
  • Interline and Codeshare:
    • Interline partner integration 
    • Passive and Ghost Segment e-ticket support
    • Support e-ticket for Codeshare and Alliance partners
    • Coupon status change
    • Compatibility with various EDIFACT messages
    • Staff travel and tickets

Coforge followed a hybrid approach combining Agile best practices with a Waterfall model. This approach allowed us to deliver all functionalities in an iterative manner with flexibility, transparency and ease of change. 

Key business benifits

The solution presented to the client allowed for various business benefits:

  • E-ticketing functionality was enabled for reservations through direct channels for the client viz. website and travel agency portal. This brought in more revenue and decreased transaction costs.
  • The client now has a powerful platform from which it can continue to build strategic interline partnerships with an increasing number of airlines. 
  • The improved group booking feature allowed for up to 99 bookings to be made. 
  • About 30 new routes were added for the client operating through interline/codeshare flights in partnership with other airlines.
  • Approximately 210 interline bookings through direct channels and 580 interline bookings through GDS were affected.


Delivering more value

  • Bigger Network Driving More Revenue: Coforge facilitated interline and codeshare partnerships through direct channels 
  • Better utilization of fleet and resources : Interline and codeshare enablement has allowed our client’s young fleet to be better utilized 
  • Cultural contribution: Better coverage and increased passenger in-flow into the region has positively impacted tourism
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