ATPCO expands Next Generation Storefront to four international markets

One year after unveiling plans to develop a Next Generation Storefront (NGS) standard, ATPCO is now expanding that effort globally and creating advisory boards to oversee the effort in four regions: Asia Pacific, Transatlantic, Transpacific and Canada Domestic.

ATPCO says the boards will use the U.S. domestic standard - which has now been finalized and will soon be published – as a foundation but will also consider market characteristics to determine the best plan for implementation in each region.

NGS is a set of data standards that enable distribution channels to better present, sort and compare the airline products and services shoppers are looking for.

Members of the invitation-only boards include Ctrip.com, Air China, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Skyscanner, CWT, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, with additional members to be added in the near future.

“The U.S. domestic evolution of NGS went at such an incredible pace and achieved success earlier than we were expecting,” says Gianni Cataldo, head of research and development at ATPCO.

“Our plan was to create the first standard here in the U.S. and then expand into international markets. The fact we are doing this one year after initially unveiling the standard is something to be proud of. The positive industry reaction to, and participation in, what we are building has been incredible. We are really motivated to now branch into new markets based on the impressive interest shown by our partners globally.”

The boards, which will meet monthly, will have oversight in creating and ratifying the definition of the NGS standard for their respective regions.

“Now that version one of the U.S. domestic standard is complete, we jumped at the chance to be involved with shaping the APAC and Transpacific standards. It’s important to ensure all voices are heard in an equitable way, both channels and airlines,” says Lyrics Zhao, director of product and business development on air ticketing at Ctrip.

“This standard can greatly help OTAs differentiate offerings that airlines are investing in, to indicate different service levels customers have access to, in an obvious and unified way. We are excited to be included in the conversation and planning.”

Also today, ATPCO says it is enhancing its model for dynamic pricing, enabling airlines to complement their pre-filed fares with a new dynamic pricing model.

The company say this new offering “will significantly increase the speed at which airlines can get more price points out to the market, including personalized pricing to consumers.” 

“The promise of dynamic pricing is to increase yield for airlines through targeted offers that meet consumer expectations,” says Rolf Purzer, ATPCO CEO.

“As an industry resource we’ve had the privilege of working with academia at MIT, industry bodies, pricing experts and others to develop an approach that combines the best of this future vision with the interoperability of today’s systems. Our goal is to provide more value to airlines and systems by enabling more choice to consumers. We are now making this vision a reality.”