Developers of mobile apps in travel and airport kiosks can now do some one-stop shopping for flight schedules and flight status updates thanks to a new API from FlightStats and Innovata.
The Schedules Connections API, available through the FlightStats Developer Center, enables developers to query for global flight schedules by airport, route, airline, flight number, non stops, codeshares and other parameters. The companies say it is available on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, and here are the pricing and terms.
David White, vice president of business development for FlightStats, says previously FlightStats' existing client base of some 400 developers could tap into the FlightStats database, but would have had to query Innovata, OAG or other competitors separately to access flight schedule data.
And customers, including Mobiata, TripIt, TripCase, WorldMate and others, might have had to retrieve massive downloads of global flight schedule data for updating purposes.
With the new API, White says, customers of FlightStats can access the Innovata data and make more relevant queries such as what are the Ryanair flight schedules from Salzburg to Dublin and what is the status of these flights.
FlightStats migrated to Innovata as a flight-schedule data partner about six months ago.
FlightStats, it is believed, previously used OAG.
The change likely was made in part because of Innovata's perceived broader depth of coverage in Europe and other geographies, particularly for some low cost carriers, including RyanAir.
The technology transition was a big deal for FlightStats and White says he consequently felt a lot of sympathy for United Airlines' much-larger reservation system migration.
"A lot of people [at FlightStats and Innovata] stayed up an awful lot, sweating it and testing it," White recalls. "There's only so much that testing will guarantee you."
FlightStats' 400 developer customers include mobile apps publishers, kiosk vendors, airlines, travel agencies, digital signage companies and ground transportation firms.
The Schedules Connections API is the first of several envisioned product collaborations between FlightStats and Innovata.
White says in a few months the API will transition from an XML- to "the more modern" JSON-based API.