Ethiopian Airlines, the largest carrier in Africa, and Travelport, a global technology
company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide,
announced a new agreement. The renewed deal includes distribution on the Travelport+
platform, including New Distribution Capability (NDC) content from Ethiopian Airlines.
This agreement expands the ongoing travel retailing and distribution relationship
between Travelport and Ethiopian, who was ranked the number one airline within the
African continent by Business Insider earlier this year.
Both companies are in the process of developing a strategic plan to provide agents access
to NDC content and functionality from Ethiopian Airlines in the Travelport+ platform.
As part of the agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will also become a new participant in
Travelport’s Rich Content & Branding (RC&B) program. As a top 100 carrier booked
through Travelport, the carrier is laying the foundation to ensure that Travelport-
connected agencies can access the most robust, enriched Ethiopian Airlines’ content following its current fleet expansion.
“As we are now investing in our ability to meet high demand for travel following the
pandemic, it is crucial that we deepen our partnership with Travelport as they
understand our need to efficiently deliver simplified access to our growing content,” said
Lemma Yadecha, Chief Commercial Officer at Ethiopian Airlines. “Travelport’s
enhanced multi-sourced content capabilities within the Travelport+ platform will help us
to provide agents and their travelers with quick, easy access to highly relevant offers and
more choices to fit their needs. Our expanded agreement with Travelport and Rich
Content & Branding will further enable us to drive more value for our travelers through
today’s modern travel retailing environment.”
David Gomes, Head of Regional Air Partners, EMEA at Travelport, says: “Our
renewed, expanded agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to include NDC content and
Travelport RC&B is a significant step in evolving and modernizing Ethiopian’s retailing
strategy. Travelport+ was built to manage multiple sources of content and effectively
merchandize personalized and dynamic offers, which will greatly benefit the agency
community and provide a better experience for Ethiopian’s travellers.”
