Multicom strikes easyJet distribution deal
Travel technology specialist Multicom has struck a deal with Europe’s leading low-fares airline, easyJet to use its booking API (Application Programming Interface).
The deal means the company will be licensed to distribute easyJet flights to approved users of its FindandBook service and follows moves initiated by easyJet late last year to build partnerships with selected third party system providers for corporate travel distribution.
Under the terms of the deal, easyJet will provide an XML feed to FindandBook from its host reservations system which can then be accessed by approved Multicom business partners.
Chris Nourse, general manager of Multicom, said: “easyJet is already the UK’s largest European airline and this deal should help to further boost bookings by providing another productive sales channel.
“easyJet were impressed by the capabilities of FindandBook and require the system to control which customers are given access to search and book flights via the XML feed. The structured interface is much more reliable than screen scraping which will be switched off as soon as the API connection is working..
“This deal is fantastic news for Multicom, easyJet and the many users of FindandBook throughout the industry.”
Jerry Dunn, easyJet’s distribution development manager, said: “For the first time, easyJet is working with third party system providers as we move away from unlicensed screen scraping and towards building solid partnerships with clear benefits for both parties. We are hopeful that other providers will follow Multicom’s lead and avoid any action against unauthorised selling of easyJet flights.
“We already have a strong working relationship with Multicom and I’m sure that working together in this way will only go to strengthen that further in the future.”
Multicom’s FindandBook service works by bringing bookable data from suppliers of flights, accommodation, package holidays, Eurostar and extras such as car hire, and feeding it directly to websites and travel agents.
FindandBook currently powers around 40,000 searches a minute, with most searches delivering results in less than one second.
easyJet is Europe's leading low-fares airline, currently operating 154 aircraft on 389 routes between 103 airports in 26 countries. easyJet carried over 39 million passengers in the past 12 months.