New API integration with Flynas

HitchHiker, a leading technology provider, announces a partnership with Flynas, one of the leading airlines in the Middle East. This collaboration enables HitchHiker Users to offer their customers access to an expanded portfolio of destinations and memorable travel experiences.

**Flynas: Your Gateway to World-Class Travel**

Flynas, a renowned Middle Eastern airline, serves an impressive network of destinations spanning the Middle East and the world. With the integration of Flynas’ API into the HitchHiker platforms, clients can now offer their customers an even wider range of travel options. These destinations include: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Istanbul, Turkey – Cairo, Egypt – Lahore, Pakistan – Islamabad, Pakistan.

This partnership offers a wealth of advantages:

**Expanded Travel Opportunities:** HitchHiker Users can offer their customers a wider range of destinations and departure options.

** Hassle-free booking:** Integration with Flynas API allows HitchHiker Users to book and manage flights easily and efficiently through the HitchHiker platform.

Our partnership with Flynas represents another step towards delivering a comprehensive and first-class travel experience for HitchHiker Users and their customers. For more information, please contact us – hello@hitchhiker.net.

HitchHiker remains the trusted technology partner for travel companies to open up new horizons for their customers.

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HitchHiker expands flight portfolio with Emirates NDC API connection

HitchHiker users can now directly access Emirates’ NDC portfolio. HitchHiker has successfully completed the NDC API connection, giving Emirates’ global B2B partners easy and direct access to the airline’s extensive portfolio of flights and services.

Emirates is an award-winning airline known for its industry-leading services in the air and on the ground. Emirates is the world’s largest operator with 259 aircraft, including the popular 159 Boeing 777s and 100 iconic Airbus A380s, modern and efficient wide-body aircraft with the latest in flight comfort. Emirates’ global route network flies to more than 140 destinations in over 75 countries via its hub in Dubai. As a leading sponsor of sporting and cultural events around the world, the airline also contributes to the dynamism of society.

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New Strategic Partnership

Middle East-based payment provider Apiso becomes an active partner of HitchHiker. Effective immediately, Hitchhiker will not only offer a basket of European currencies, but also full access to all major MENA currencies, virtual cards with different interchange levels from MasterCard and Visa, including MasterCard’s MWP and Visa’s IDX wholesale travel payment programs, and the ability to assign a passenger name to each virtual card at the time of booking.

HitchHiker pleased to offer our customers Apiso, an important and sought-after payment provider for VCC payments, which are so important in the airline industry.

For questions, please send an email to sales@hitchhiker.net.

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New carrier – Freebird Airlines available via HitchHiker Flight API

Founded in 2000 on the basis of a solid infrastructure among private Turkish airlines, Freebird Airlines started operations in 2001.

Freebird Airlines’ fleet consists of 8 A320 aircraft and flies in Europe and the Middle East.

Freebird has an extensive flight network and carries around 1 million passengers annually to 170 destinations in 26 countries.

For enquiries, please contact sales@hitchhiker.net.

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New NDC Carrier – HitchHiker is the new NDC partner of Pegasus Airlines

With the aim of offering its customers a better user experience on the portals of its affiliated distribution partners as well, Pegasus Airlines is pushing ahead with its NDC programme, called Crane PAX. HitchHiker users can now also benefit from this programme.

Agencies connected through NDC have access to an enhanced fare offering from the airline. This enables them to offer their customers tailor-made products (e.g. branded fares) and negotiated fares and to shorten the time to market for these offers.

Together with HitchHiker, Pegasus Airlines is expanding its network of collaborating technology providers and NDC aggregators to enable agencies to easily connect to the airline’s NDC programme.

As a result, easy bookings and credit card payments are now bookable and available on Pegasus Airlines via the NDC format using the HitchHiker Flight API.

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New NDC Carrier – Qatar Airways available via HitchHiker Flight API

Based on the current NDC standard, a fleet of 190 aircraft worldwide is now available to users of the HitchHiker Flight API. Qatar Airways offers connections to over 100 destinations in Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North America, South America and Oceania.

From Doha International Airport, Qatar Airways flies to 135 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania.

Qatar Airways flights booked through HitchHiker Flight API are charged to the airline’s inventory through BSP/ARC.

Seat reservations, additional bookings, changes and cancellations are also supported.

For collaboration questions, please email sales@hitchhiker.net.

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HitchHiker’s NDC survey

We want to thank all participants for their time answering our questions regarding NDC.

We assembled the experience and opinion from travel trade professionals all over the world. Together with the experts of Travel.Commerce. we reviewed the responses carefully. And we did what we always do at Hitchhiker: We collected data and displayed them correctly and as easy as possible. The result is a unique view of the current tasks, challenges and opportunities in air distribution. Let’s combine forces and make air distribution as efficient as possible – in challenging times with multiple challenges but great opportunities.

Click HERE to read …

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HitchHiker’s NDC Survey

Dear travel industry friends,

10 Years of NDC
What is good?
What are the experiences?
How many NDC carriers can you handle?
Where are we in the transformation process?

We are interested to hear the echo from our Flight distribution industry.
This is an initiative to improve airfare-business for all of us.

10 Minutes attention
Please support us with your feedback!
You will be rewarded with the summary of this anonymous survey!

Feel free to share this survey with your industry friends, for the best possible picture.
The Survey ends on June 25, 2021.

https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/ndcsurvey21

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ITB BERLIN NOW 2021

Unser neuer umweltfreundlicher, virtueller ITB-Messestand ist ab heute bis Ende Mai für Sie geöffnet.

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren virtuellen Besuch und informieren Sie gerne über unsere neuesten digitalen Produkte rund um das Thema “Flug”.

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AgentPlus NDC booking platform with Air France-KLM fares

Air France-KLM certifies HitchHiker for NDC booking of its private fares

In June 2018, Air France-KLM certified the NDC connection of the Frankfurt software company HitchHiker for the first time. Now the functional scope of the interface has been expanded to include other important fare types.

Recently certified fare types are the airline’s private fares. They include both tour operator, consolidator and “visit friends and relatives” fares.

HitchHiker now also supports bookings with account or corporate code. This enhancement should be of particular interest to business travel agents who want to save the airline’s additional Distribution Cost Charge applied on GDS bookings.

“We are pleased to be one of the first IT providers worldwide to be able to provide the private fares of Air France and KLM via NDC and offer tour operators, wholesalers and business travel agencies real added value through our direct connection,” comments Managing Director Thomas Boffo on the cooperation.

“In these difficult times for our industry, it is important that we focus on our priorities and continue to invest in strategic development areas such as NDC. In this context it is great to see that HitchHiker is one of the first providers of software solutions for the international travel industry to offer the opportunity to distribute our private fares. This is an important step to further support our joint customers”, explains Stefan Gumuseli, General Manager Germany at Air France-KLM.

The airline’s private, corporate and published fares can be booked via the HitchHiker Flight API and the AgentPlus booking platform. For the subsequent management and processing of all bookings, HitchHiker provides a Booking Manager, through which NDC bookings can be processed just as easily as GDS bookings made using the HitchHiker system.

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HitchHiker becomes NDC technology partner of Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is driving its NDC program, called KrisConnect, forward in order to offer its customers a better user experience on the portals of its connected distribution partners. Now, HitchHiker users can also benefit from this program.

In the future, agencies connected via NDC will have access to the airline’s expanded fare content. Further highlights include the ability to offer their customers tailor-made products, such as branded fares, as well as negotiated fares and an accelerated time-to-market for these offers.

Together with HitchHiker, Singapore Airlines is also expanding its network of technology partners and NDC aggregators to enable agencies to easily connect to the airline’s NDC program.

From now on, agencies can use the HitchHiker Flight API to book Singapore Airlines flights, seats, baggage and ancillaries via the NDC format. HitchHiker’s interface also supports calendar shopping, credit card payments, rebooking and cancellations.

In the next step, both companies plan to facilitate automatic notification of the agents e.g. in the event of a schedule change.

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Aegean and Olympic Air available through the HitchHiker Flight API

Based on the current NDC standard, HitchHiker Flight API users can now also connect to Greece’s largest airline, AEGEAN and its subsidiary, OLYMPIC AIR. Additionally, OLYMPIC AIR is exclusively available through direct channels and API connections.

With hubs in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larnaca, Heraklion, Rhodes and Kalamata, both airlines serve combined a route network of currently 113 scheduled destinations. This includes 29 Greek domestic destinations on the mainland and many popular islands.

Additionally, 84 international scheduled destinations are offered mainly in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, but also with 21 codeshare agreements North America, Australia and Asia.

With this, the airlines are following their mission and “travel passengers through an extensive network of destinations, which connects every corner of Greece and Greece with the world.”

AEGEAN and OLYMPIC AIR flights booked through HitchHiker’s Flight API are settled via BSP or a Credit Card (Visa & Mastercard) on Airline’s Stock. Functions for seat reservation, booking ancillary services, as well as modifying & cancelling bookings are also supported.

The Star Alliance members also offer the opportunity to earn miles through the Miles+Bonus program when flying AEGEAN. 

Further information on the cooperation can be obtained by telephone under +49 69 507030 or by e-mail to sales@hitchhiker.net.

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HitchHiker connects Chinese technology provider WETKT

WETKT is a young and rapidly growing technology company based in Hong Kong, who will make its content available through the HitchHiker Flight API with immediate effect.

Through cooperation with numerous leading wholesalers, OTAs and airlines within China, WETKT provides its customers with access to exclusive discounts and special fares for local airlines. These airlines include for instance China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines as well as 36 additional airlines serving both Chinese domestic and international routes.

With WETKT, HitchHiker gains another strong, local partner in Asia, who guarantees not only the ability to book a large number of regional airlines, but also high service quality through an experienced 24/7 helpdesk with good English language skills.

Further information on the new collaboration can be requested by telephone (+49 69 507030) or by sending an e-mail to sales@hitchhiker.net.

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HitchHiker cooperates with Latin American consolidator GDX Travel

German travel technology specialist HitchHiker announces its cooperation with the leading Latin American consolidator GDX Travel. The joint agreement will enable all HitchHiker customers not only within Germany but worldwide to benefit from the most inexpensive local fares of 25 Latin American regional and low-cost carriers.

GDX’s airline partners are based in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, the Caribbean, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Panama, covering all of the main airports and route networks across the Latin American region. The integration of the GDX API in HitchHikers shopping solutions will allow centralized shopping, booking and payment for all carriers either by pre-paid means or by credit card. To ensure a quick response time and a high booking rate, GDX exclusively holds direct API connections to their partner airlines.

James Figueroa, CEO at GDX, said: “We’ve really been looking forward for this strategic partnership with HitchHiker to take off. We are certain that we will add value to HitchHiker partners that want to cover the Latin American region with just one connection. This one-time connection will give them access to the most exclusive and valuable content as well as to the best local fares for these airlines. We are very excited to start working together with HitchHiker and its partners.

The cooperation with regional market leaders like GDX Travel enables not only a rapid but a more sustainable expansion of our offer to the users of our shopping solutions. Through the smart booking logic within the HitchHiker Flight API our users will be able to combine GDX flight content with other fare sources, such as our LCC, NDC and GDS connections“, comments HitchHiker’s Managing Director, Thomas Boffo, on the collaboration.

To enable dynamic packaging of GDX content with other travel services, both companies have also agreed on the provision of cache data.

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HitchHiker receives IATA NDC Level 3 certification

Frankfurt based software manufacturer HitchHiker has recently achieved Level 3 certification by the International Air Transport Association, which is currently the highest level for IT service providers and officially demonstrates its long-term commitment to IATA’s “New Distribution Capability” program.

IATA’s “NDC Capable” Level 3 certification confirms that HitchHiker can send and receive offer and order management related messages in NDC format. This includes API commands for fare and availability queries, bookings with immediate ticketing, on-hold bookings with subsequent ticketing, credit card & BSP/ARC payments, re-bookings, cancellations and ticket refunds as well as seat map retrieval including availability and prices.

“Our customers are mainly online travel agencies, tour operators and business travel companies with an affinity for technology, who already rely on our years of experience with direct connections to airline systems of low-cost carriers and who are now also increasingly opting to book full-service carriers through their own NDC interfaces. The focus of this decision is mainly on the competitive advantage through attractively priced offers, low distribution system costs and additional revenues from the sale of ancillaries.

Today, we already cooperate with a number of well-known NDC airlines. Our objective is to provide a standardized interface that aggregates existing NDC interfaces, which equalizes differences between the format versions used by the respective airlines and which facilitates our customers transition to NDC through a simplified implementation process,” explains Thomas Boffo, Managing Director of HitchHiker GmbH.

The certification by the IATA also represents an important first step in positioning HitchHiker also as a service provider for airlines, which will include the implementation and hosting of NDC interfaces for airlines very shortly.

IATA NDC Capable Level 3

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HitchHiker connects Chinese flight content via Flightroutes24

Direct connections to Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, numerous Chinese low-cost airlines and access to the Travelsky GDS are the main motives for the cooperation between German software house HitchHiker and Flightroutes24, a leading Chinese consolidator.

HitchHiker has gained another local cooperation partner in Flightroutes24, which now offers users of HitchHiker’s Flight API and Agent application the possibility to access a comprehensive range of Chinese domestic and international bargain flights from China and Hong Kong.

Flightroutes24 is one of the leading international air ticket wholesalers based in Mainland China and in Hong Kong. The company is part of the Meituan-Dianping Group, China’s largest and rapidly growing “online-to-offline” e-commerce group, which currently provides 600 million active users with a wide range of services, such as food deliveries or rental bikes, as well as a broad range of travel services.

“The cooperation with HitchHiker not only expands our exposure within Germany and Europe, we also hope that the partnership will mutually develop our businesses and enhance our products to generate the greatest value for our customers”,

Nancy Zhou, Senior Director of Business Development of Flightroutes24 Travel Company Limited, comments on the cooperation.

Flightroutes24 provides both negotiated, public and market-specific fares from scheduled airlines as well as fares from regional low-cost airlines such as 9 Air, Eastar Jet, Juneyao Airlines, Lucky Air, Spring Airlines, Urumqi Air and China West Air.

Through this cooperation, HitchHiker is expanding its services for OTAs, travel agencies and tour operators with customers or destinations in China.

About HitchHiker GmbH

HitchHiker GmbH is a leading and independent provider of software solutions for the global travel industry based in Frankfurt on the Main, Germany. Founded in 1991, HitchHiker has developed solutions for the entire airfare management and ticketing process as well as powerful online booking solutions for all types of flights and ancillaries. HitchHiker’s customers in 27 countries comprise some of the leading online and traditional travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines worldwide.

Press Contact:

Uta Will
Marketing Manager

HitchHiker GmbH
Berner Str. 81, 60437 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Telephon: + 49 (69) 50 70 30
E-mail: marketing@hitchhiker.net
Homepage: www.hitchhiker.net

About Flightroutes24

Flightroutes24 is one of the biggest B2B global air ticket consolidators based in mainland China and Hong Kong, it is part of the Meituan-Dianping Group, China’s largest online-to-offline e-commerce group.

About Meituan-Dianping

As the leading local service e-commerce platform with the largest market transactions, Meituan-Dianping has over 600 million users and 4.5 million business partners providing various services, covering over 2800 cities in China and the world.

Backed by 600 million users from Meituan-Dianping, Meituan Travel already had a total of 100 million users by April, 2017. Meituan Travel’s accommodation booking surpassed 200 million, and sold over 100 million attraction tickets in 2017. YoY growth of trains and flights exceeded 300%.

With strong support from Meituan-Dianping, Flightroutes24 aims to provide business partners with the safest, most reliable products and services as well as great opportunities to explore the Chinese market.

Press Contact:

April Li

Flightroutes24
Room 525, No.9 Keji Road, High-tech Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China

Telephon: +86 (755) 2660 2132 (ext: 810)
Wechat: joker425
E-mail: bd@flightroutes24.com
Homepage: www.flightroutes24.com

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Fliggy.com Homepage

HitchHiker flight content available on fliggy.com

In order to offer a wider range of international flights on Fliggy, one of Chinas leading online travel malls, Chinese travel agency Wangyi has signed an agreement with German software and content provider HitchHiker.

As of late, travellers departing out of China will have access to a wider range of available flights provided by HitchHiker through fliggy.com, the travel division of China’s leading market place Alibaba.

As a content provider, HitchHiker aggregates content from 120 direct airline connections and various wholesalers. Wangyi air tickets service co., LTD is an IATA accredited travel agency based in Chongqing and a store partner of fliggy.com, who acts as a merchant for HitchHiker’s flight content.

Today, the scope of the cooperation between HitchHiker and Wangyi includes online booking of Asian low-cost carriers such as Hong Kong Express, Jetstar and Scoot but also airlines outside of Asia such as the Romanian carrier Blue Air and the Dutch Transavia. Further international carriers like British Airways, TUI fly Belgium and Canada’s Porter Airlines and others will follow soon.

Wholesale content from local agents is supposed to broaden the range of available bargain airfares for Chinese travellers even more.

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HitchHiker Fare Deals for IATA and non-IATA Agencies

HitchHiker expands its product range for travel agencies and tour operators – with and without an own IATA license – by adding the bargain “Fare Deals”. For this purpose, a cooperation agreement was concluded with the Berlin based software company and ticket wholesaler BERlogic.

German software manufacturer HitchHiker GmbH develops and operates booking technology for the tourism industry that aggregates flight data from different third-party systems. These solutions were primarily developed for (online) travel agencies, business travel agencies and tour operators with an own IATA license.

“Beyond our traditional role as software solution provider, we mainly consider ourselves as content provider for the tourism industry. During recent years, we’ve hence repeatedly received requests for available bargain “flight content” and fulfillment services from agencies without an IATA license. Moreover, our prospective customers from China, Asia and the Middle East are increasingly looking for content outside of their own home region. Until now, we were solely able to offer them the content of our approx. 120 direct airline connections. The Fare Deals, which we currently offer together with our partner BERlogic, enable us to significantly expand the range of services for this target group. Beside that, our highly competitive Fare Deals could also be of interest to our existing customers,” explains Jörg Götz, Senior Sales Manager at HitchHiker GmbH.

BERlogic does not only supply flight content from the major GDS’ (Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport) but also special rates for many routes and airlines (such as Eurowings) and a comprehensive content for the Russian region, which currently includes 76 airlines which are not available in traditional GDS’s, such as Pobeda Airlines LLC. In addition, Lufthansa tickets may be ordered without Lufthansa’s “Distribution Cost Charge”, applicable to all GDS bookings.

The HitchHiker Fare Deals can be accessed via a web service interface (HitchHiker Flight API) and soon also via the B2B booking platform (HitchHiker Agent). Existing HitchHiker customers can simply request to book the new “Fare Deals” via the existing HitchHiker group account. But it is also possible to request a separate agent account at BERlogic, which enables the collection of revenue-based incentives.

Fees for booking and ticket delivery by BERlogic are already included in the airfare, which can be paid by credit card. Moreover, the Berlin based Call Center offers amendment and cancellation services for all flights booked under this cooperation agreement.

About HitchHiker GmbH

HitchHiker GmbH is a leading and independent provider of software solutions for the global travel industry, based in Frankfurt on the Main, Germany. With 25 years of experience in the tourism industry and numerous international projects, HitchHiker has developed solutions for the entire airfare management and ticketing process as well as powerful online booking solutions for all types of flights and ancillaries. HitchHiker’s customers in 27 countries comprise some of the leading online and traditional travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines worldwide. For the development of its solutions HitchHiker trusts in industry standards such as Microsoft technology. HitchHiker has once again attained Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and is compliant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Press contact:

Uta Will
Marketing Manager
T: + 49 (69) 50 70 3 0
E: marketing@hitchhiker.net
H: www.hitchhiker.net

About BERlogic GmbH

Founded in 2012, BERlogic aims to bring people together with the help of technologies. BERlogic plays the role of connector and consolidator between the suppliers and distributors of air transportation content and travel-related services. BERlogic focuses on providing high-quality services and customer support, along with development and improvement of its products. Clients are of high priority for BERlogic, and employees are the greatest asset.

Press contact:

Aron Lutrin
Sales Director
T: + 49 (30) 983 208 852
E: marketing@berlogic.de
H: www.berlogic.de

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British Airways and HitchHiker announce NDC partnership

HitchHiker and British Airways have partnered to enable authorized agents and corporate customers using the HitchHiker Flight API to access British Airways content directly through IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard.

As a leading software house and independent content aggregator for the travel industry, HitchHiker is excited to announce the cooperation with British Airways, the largest international carrier in the United Kingdom.

“It is our company mission to efficiently interconnect travel agents, travel management companies and tour operators worldwide with service providers of the tourism industry. Therefore, it is a great honor for us to support British Airways in distributing its services based on the NDC standard”, says Thomas Boffo, Managing Director of HitchHiker GmbH.

Authorized agents and corporate customers will now be able to use the HitchHiker Flight API to shop and book British Airways’ published and corporate airfares via NDC, while avoiding the distribution technology charge of 8 GBP per fare component which will be applicable to all bookings not made through NDC or other lower-cost distribution channels as of 1st November 2017.

British Airways flights may be paid by credit and debit card or cash via IATAs Billing and Settlement Plan. Furthermore, HitchHiker’s System already supports Prime Sale Seating as well as cancellations and refunds of British Airways flights. To add even more value for the passenger, leisure fares and a greater variety of ancillaries (post-sale seating, paid baggage, paid meals and catering choice) as well as itinerary changes are going to be released by HitchHiker by the end of this year.

In order to comply with most agents’ wishes of transparency, the HitchHiker Flight API allows a mixed display of content from various fare sources, such as British Airways Direct Connect, Farelogix, HitchHikers LCC Engine or traditional GDS’s such as Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre.

About HitchHiker GmbH

HitchHiker GmbH is a leading and independent provider of software solutions for the global travel industry, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. With 25 years of experience in the tourism industry and numerous international projects, HitchHiker has developed solutions for the entire airfare management and ticketing process as well as powerful online booking solutions for all types of flights and ancillaries. HitchHiker’s customers in 27 countries comprise some of the leading online and traditional travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines worldwide. For the development of its solutions HitchHiker trusts in industry standards such as Microsoft technology. HitchHiker has once again attained Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and is compliant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

About British Airways

British Airways is the UK’s largest international airline and one of the world’s leading global premium carriers. Its principal place of business is London, the world’s largest premium travel market, with significant presence at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City Airports. It is expanding its schedule from Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol Airports.

British Airways’ main home at Heathrow is Terminal 5, regularly voted by passengers as the world’s best airport terminal in international surveys.

Operating one of the most extensive international scheduled airline route networks, together with its joint business agreement, codeshare and franchise partners, flies to more than 70 different countries. British Airways carries more than 40 million customers a year and has a fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. This summer, it will be operating nearly 1,000 flights a day across four London airports.

Press contact:

Uta Will
Marketing Manager
HitchHiker GmbH
Berner Str. 81
60437 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
T: + 49 (69) 50 70 30
E: marketing@hitchhiker.net
H: www.hitchhiker.net

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HitchHiker and WEX Announce Virtual Payments Agreement in Germany

WEX and HitchHiker work together on providing seamless payments to the German travel industry.

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, today announced a new virtual payments agreement with HitchHiker GmbH. HitchHiker specialises in content aggregation as well as online booking and ticketing solutions for traditional and online travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines. With the agreement in place, mutual customers are able to benefit from virtual debit, prepaid and credit cards which can be pre-funded or using a credit line and are available in 24 billing currencies.

Ian Johnson, Commercial Director, Virtual Payments, WEX Europe, said, “At WEX we see great opportunity for our payments and new technology solutions in Europe. We have been expanding rapidly into new markets over the last few years and focus on providing our customers with more powerful and effective solutions. Germany is a key market for us and having HitchHiker, a leading innovator in the travel technology space, working with us is a huge gain for our business and our mutual customers.”

Thomas Boffo, Managing Director, HitchHiker, said, “In our role as aggregator of flight content from Global Distribution Systems, airline direct connects, global flight wholesalers, and other third party content providers, it has become vital to be able to offer a breadth of cost efficient and safe payment options which our customers can manage according to their business requirements. For our customers across the globe virtual payments have become the preferred method of payment, offering benefits such as reduced risk of fraud and misuse which conventional company cards cannot offer. Through our agreement with WEX our mutual customers will benefit from an increased cash flow through the credit funding option.”

Pioneered in 2000, WEX virtual payments are available in all major international currencies and are used in over 190 countries worldwide.

About WEX Inc.

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading provider of corporate payment solutions. From its roots in fleet card payments beginning in 1983, WEX has expanded the scope of its business into a multi-channel provider of corporate payment solutions representing more than 10 million vehicles and offering exceptional payment security and control across a wide spectrum of business sectors. WEX serves a global set of customers and partners through its operations around the world, with offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, and Singapore. WEX and its subsidiaries employ more than 2,500 associates. The Company has been publicly traded since 2005, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “WEX.” For more information, visit www.wexinc.com and follow WEX on Twitter at @WEXIncNews.

About HitchHiker GmbH

HitchHiker GmbH is a leading and independent provider of software solutions for the global travel industry, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. With 25 years of experience in the tourism industry and numerous international projects, HitchHiker has developed solutions for the entire airfare management and ticketing process as well as powerful online booking solutions for all types of flights and ancillaries. HitchHiker’s customers in 27 countries comprise some of the leading online and traditional travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines worldwide. For the development of its solutions HitchHiker trusts in industry standards such as Microsoft technology. HitchHiker has once again attained Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and is compliant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Contacts

WEX Europe
Riina Sulonen, +44 7766 254 806
riina.sulonen@wexeurope.com

or

JPW Communications
Jamie Wortley, +44 (0) 1769 573444
jamie@jpwcommunications.com

or

HitchHiker GmbH
Uta Will, + 49 (69) 50 70 3 0
Marketing Manager
marketing@hitchhiker.net

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Tigerair API now available

We are now able to offer you a new direct connection to one of the biggest Asian Low Cost Carriers: Tigerair.

The new plug-in was developed based on the “Navitaire New Skies API” by courtesy of the airline and will ensure an even more reliable and stable connection to query and book Tigerair flights over the HitchHiker Flight API, Agent and Consumer.

Tigerair

Established in 2004 the subsidiary of Singapore Airlines operates flights to 40 destinations across Asia such as:

  • Singapore
  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • India

  • Indonesia
  • Macau
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Myanmar

  • Philippines
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

The usage of the new interface requires an agency log-in, which is provided by the airline. We would be very happy to provide you with a contact person at the airline should you be interested in obtaining an agency account.

Finally, we would like to take the opportunity to draw your attention to our API connections to Tigerair’s partner airlines Scoot and Tigerair Australia, which were also released this year. The Tigerair Australia API can be used either with a dedicated agency account or simply accessed over HitchHiker’s group-account; the Scoot API can only be accessed using a dedicated agency account.

For further information and to request access please contact our sales team either by e-mail: sales@hitchhiker.net, or by phone: +49 69 507030.

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HitchHiker “Direct Connect” certified for Lufthansa Group

In August 2015, the German software house HitchHiker completed its pilot project for “Direct Connect Access” to scheduled carriers. Later on that year HitchHiker was officially appointed technology partner of the Lufthansa Group relating to “Direct Connect Access”. To date, the complete booking function including ticketing for Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and Brussels Airlines was implemented and certified. The LH Group carriers API joins a growing list of major airline APIs supported by HitchHiker, such as American Airlines.

Like all 120 low cost and regional airlines directly connected to the HitchHiker Flight API, ”Direct Connect“ flights can be displayed transparently and combined dynamically with flights from other sources (such as the GDS).

Further functions such as fare quotes for quality control, queueing of PNRs as well as the cancellation of bookings and tickets are also supported for the new interfaces.

In support of airline merchandising strategies HitchHiker will be enhancing the capabilities with further Ancillary and Auxiliary Services as well as Branded Fares in the upcoming months.

For more information or if you have any questions, the HitchHiker Team will be present during the ITB in Berlin at stand #124 / Hall 5.1 and the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai at stand #TT1212.

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Thomas Boffo (General Manager at HitchHiker) on Europa 2

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises picks up speed with ELVIS

Even in our Internet-savvy times, customer service, be it either in person or by phone, plays a key role for the German Cruiseline Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. To better handle demanding clientele and travel agents during the sales process as well as to optimize complex booking processes, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will be replacing its existing flight booking system with a more efficient, tailor-made solution.

The new system will support approximately 50 employees in the sales and product consulting center and approximately 10 employees in the flight department.

The challenge in implementing a technical solution consists of combining full charter flights, allotments and scheduled flights into one, single solution and to pass the result via an interface to the existing tour operator system. Moreover, long-haul flights have to be dynamically combined as a multi-ticket option whilst always taking the necessary minimum connecting times into account.

For the implementation of this project, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has chosen the Frankfurt-based software house HitchHiker. Essential software modules such as the “Allotment Manager”, the “Flight API” and the “Ticket Automation” have already been fulfilling the specific needs of all departments involved to a large extent.

During the past months HitchHiker has extended its “Flight” product suite to include additional company-specific requirements and has merged all modules into one, jointly designed distribution platform under the project name “ELVIS”.

“ELVIS” covers functions for availability request & booking and ticketing of allotments based on published, net, corporate and cruise (tour-operator) fares. Negospace, online/offline, booking class and virtual allotments (e.g. for own full charter flights) are applied.

Furthermore, schedule-change monitoring is fully automated and a tailored back-office interface passes all flight data on to the tour-operator system.

Last but not least, another important part of „ELVIS“ is the department-specific reporting to provide e.g. capacity data for yield management purposes.

To develop its software HitchHiker applies the latest industry standards:
Microsoft SQL Server, ASP.NET MVC, Entity Framework as Object Relational Mapping while using Code First for database modeling.

About HitchHiker GmbH

Working as an independent software company since 1992, HitchHiker has been successfully developing software solutions for airlines, consolidators, online portals, travel agencies and tour operators.

With over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry and numerous international projects, we have developed solutions for the entire chain of the flight tariff management process as well as numerous, powerful booking applications for all types of flights and touristic services.

For the development of its solutions HitchHiker trusts in industry standards such as Microsoft technology. HitchHiker has once again attained Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and is compliant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

HitchHiker Press Contact:

Uta Will
Marketing Manager
HitchHiker GmbH
Berner Straße 81
60437 Frankfurt am Main
T + 49 (69) 50 70 3 0
F + 49 (69) 50 70 3 111
marketing@hitchhiker.net
www.hitchhiker.net

About Hapag-Lloyd Cruises

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is one of Germany’s foremost providers of luxury and expedition cruises. It offers four ships each with their own unique character: The EUROPA, offers pure luxury and is the only cruise ship worldwide to receive a 5-star plus* ranking for the fourteenth consecutive time by the Berlitz Cruise Guide since its commissioning in 1999. The EUROPA 2, the youngest member of the fleet, is a modern and casual luxury ship, which does away with cruise traditions such as the captain’s dinner. A first for any ship, the EUROPA 2 has received the highest distinction, a 5-star-plus ranking from the 2014 “Berlitz Cruise Guide. The two expedition ships HANSEATIC (5-stars*) and BREMEN (4-star plus*) set off on a course of discovery to explore the best kept secrets of nature and culture. A journey in the luxury private jet Albert Ballin is a particularly exclusive air travel experience that completes the portfolio.

Press Contact: Negar Etminan, Leiterin Unternehmenskommunikation, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Tel: +49 040 307030-391, E-Mail: presse@hl-cruises.com

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Envoy appointed HitchHiker’s guide to the Southern Hemisphere

Envoy Advanced Technologies Pty Ltd has been awarded exclusive distribution rights for the complete HitchHiker Flight product suite in Australasia.

This follows a long term working relationship between the parties on mutual clients like Jetabroad within the region. Envoy’s Partnerships Director, David Allen says

“The combination of Envoy’s sophisticated and market-specific travel software expertise combined with the content, connectivity and pricing capabilities of HitchHiker, means that we can jointly deliver comprehensive and specialised online solutions within a very economical framework for our clients.”

Envoy is currently enhancing a range of powerful Loyalty, Global Profile and Rules Engines that will work seamlessly with the HitchHiker (and other) connected data sources that Envoy utilises. Matt Grieve, UK-based Global Sales and Partnerships Manager at HitchHiker, added

“Being primarily based in Europe we have always wanted a technically strong and reliable partner with strong regional experience and so it was a natural progression to make.”

As a result of this appointment, solutions that can be delivered and enhanced with the added benefit of local support include: Extensive Low-Cost Carrier Content, Flight Booking Applications, Process Automation and Data Management. Envoy’s credentials in building effective and powerful online solutions for the broader travel sector continue to grow, with US and European ferry operators wanting to emulate the solution already provided to Spirit of Tasmania, for example.

Allen continues

“Envoy is a quiet achiever with some big brand names receiving enterprise grade solutions at an extremely competitive price point. It is very rewarding to be sought out by global players based on the results we are producing from Australia and to better cater for this we have created a dedicated Travel Technologies division.”

The partnership between HitchHiker and Envoy has already produced interest from Asian companies who recognise the potential advantages of this new arrangement.

 

About Envoy

Envoy Advanced Technologies, a Sydney-based software development company providing custom-built solutions to government, listed enterprises, and the SME space. Envoy focuses on Internet and mobile applications, using state-of-the-art new technology, and is a primary technology innovator with solutions for compliance and certification, agribusiness and online travel. It has an industry leading zero maintenance fee position on all of its developed code and is a Microsoft Web Development partner.

Press contact:

James Milson
Managing Director
Envoy Advanced Technologies Pty Ltd
Level 1, 194 Miller Street
North Sydney, NSW 2060
Australia
ABN 21 116 431 620 | ACN 116 431 620
T +61 (0)2 8404 0590
E james.milson@envoyat.com
W www.envoyat.com

 

About HitchHiker GmbH

Working as an independent software company since 1992, HitchHiker has been successfully developing software solutions for airlines, consolidators, online portals, travel agencies and tour operators.
With over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry and numerous international projects, we have developed solutions for the entire chain of the flight tariff management process as well as numerous, powerful booking applications for all types of flights and touristic services.
For the development of its solutions HitchHiker trusts in industry standards such as Microsoft technology: HitchHiker has once again attained Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and is compliant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Press Contact:

Uta Will
Marketing Manager
HitchHiker GmbH
Berner Straße 81
60437 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
T + 49 (69) 50 70 3 0
F + 49 (69) 50 70 3 111
E marketing@hitchhiker.net
H www.hitchhiker.net

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HitchHiker enhances payment security with eNett VANs

HitchHiker, the Travel Software Company based in Frankfurt am Main, improves its flight booking engines and ticket automation solution by offering seamless supplier payments through eNett Virtual Account Numbers (VANs).

To provide the most efficient and secure way of supplier payments to its users in more than 50 countries worldwide, HitchHiker – PCI-DSS approved since 2013 – has teamed up with eNett International, a global provider of dedicated payment solutions for the travel industry.

The eNett Payments Platform automatically generates a unique MasterCard VAN for each payment transaction or booking. As long as a supplier accepts MasterCard, it will accept a VAN. Under the MasterCard guarantee, VANs reduce the risk of losses due to supplier default (e.g. bankruptcy of an airline) and fraud.

In addition to increased security, VAN payments cut time and save money for all parties involved in processing supplier payments. Each VAN transaction is automatically reconciled in real time, by matching each booking with its corresponding virtual card number. Detailed reports can also be generated, providing transparency for each payment.

For more information on eNett VANs please visit: www.enett.com

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“Blue Air” now available via HitchHiker Direct Connect

HitchHiker broadens its spectrum of Direct Connect Content even further with the Romanian airline “Blue Air” via API connection.

The privately-owned airline Blue Air has been successfully operating from Romania for 10 years now. At inexpensive prices the airline connects Romania with 10 European countries including popular holiday destinations in Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy. Blue Air has now opened a new sales channel by providing its API to HitchHiker GmbH enabling HitchHiker customers to book Blue Air flights at the same prices as via the Blue Air website.

From its hub, the Henri Coanda International Airport, located 16 km from Bucharest, Blue Air offers return flights to London, Dublin, Brussels, Larnaca, Rome, Bologna, Naples, Catania, Milan, Paris, Nice, Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Valencia. From Bacau Blue Air serves routes to London, Dublin, Brussels, Paris, Rome, Bologna, Milan and Turin. From Sibiu, Blue Air flies to Stuttgart.

During the summer of 2014 Blue Air is offering seasonal flights from Bucharest to Corfu, Lefkada, Zakynthos, Antalya, Bodrum and Tel Aviv as well as from Bacau to Heraklion and Antalya, from Iasi to Zakynthos and from Cluj to Antalya.
Over the years the Blue Air fleet has increased to 10 Boeing 737 aircraft with modern interiors and comfortable seats. As a special service the airline allows check-in baggage of 32 kg per piece and up to 4 bags per person, free carry-on luggage of 10 kg per piece and coach transfers from Bucharest Airport to/from Constanta or Brasov. Services such as online check-in, luggage and seat reservation can be utilised through HitchHiker Direct Connect. Possible payment methods are: MasterCard, Visa, Maestro and Agency Payment.

HitchHiker customers can book flights via the Blue Air group account or use a dedicated Blue Air Agency Account. Through their cooperation with HitchHiker, Blue Air flights are bookable via the HitchHiker Flight API and HitchHiker’s B2B and B2C booking application while HitchHiker expands its direct connect content to 110 suppliers (see:http://news.hitchhiker.com/hh-direct-connect.htm).

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Germania now bookable via HitchHiker Direct Connect and Peakwork B-Hub

HitchHiker, the Travel Software Company from Frankfurt Germany, now offers its customers a direct connection to book all flights of the German scheduled and charter airline Germania. In addition, HitchHiker provides Germania flight content in EDF-format to the Player-Hub-System of Peakwork.

Under its own brand and slogan “…has never been so close” Germania flies from many regions in Germany to popular holiday destinations in the sun as well as to attractive European cities and destinations in South Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

From Bremen, Leipzig/Halle and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, the green & white aircraft depart to Moscow, from Erfurt-Weimar to London, from Bremen, Erfurt-Weimar, Friedrichshafen, Kassel-Calden and Rostock Laage to Mallorca and from Berlin-Schönefeld to Beirut and Skopje.

In addition to its commitment in Germany, Germania is also increasingly active and successful on the international market: The Company’s location at London-Gatwick, for example, is steadily being expanded. Also, the airline operates for tour operators from numerous airports in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and France to holiday destinations around the Mediterranean.

The direct connection to the HitchHiker Flight API allows Germania to supply all users in Germany and 50 further countries (including companies such as DER Touristik, HRG and Bravofly) with their complete range of fares thereby reducing distribution costs on a permanent basis.

Besides direct sales over HitchHiker’s system, Germania and HitchHiker have reached an agreement on the conversion of airfare data in EDF-format. This data can now be accessed internationally from the Player-Hub-Network and can be booked over Peakwork’s B-Hub.

By cooperating with Germania, HitchHiker expands its portfolio to 105 directly connected suppliers and ensures the availability of Germania in the new distribution channels through the conversion of airfare data.

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HitchHiker GmbH achieves Microsoft Gold Application Development Competency once again

HitchHiker demonstrates best-in-class capability and market leadership through demonstrated technology success and customer commitment.

HitchHiker GmbH, IT solution and content provider for the travel industry, today announced it has attained a Gold Application Development competency, demonstrating a “best-in-class” ability and commitment to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment and distinguishing itself within the top 1 percent of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem.

To earn a Microsoft gold competency, partners must successfully complete exams (resulting in Microsoft Certified Professionals) to prove their level of technology expertise, and then designate these certified professionals uniquely to one Microsoft competency, ensuring a certain level of staffing capacity. They also must submit customer references that demonstrate successful projects (along with implementing a yearly customer satisfaction study), meet a revenue commitment (for most gold competencies), and pass technology and/or sales assessments.

This Microsoft Gold Application Development competency showcases our expertise in and commitment to today’s technology market and demonstrates our deep knowledge of Microsoft and its products. As a Microsoft Certified Partner from the very start, we emphasize great importance in the continuing education of our long-established development teams in order to always be able to provide state-of-the-art software in a rapidly changing industry,” said Thomas Boffo, CEO of HitchHiker GmbH. “Above all, our aim is to accelerate our customers’ success by serving as technology advisors for their business demands.

By achieving a gold competency, partners have demonstrated the highest, most consistent capability and commitment to the latest Microsoft technology,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “These partners have a deep expertise that puts them in the top 1 percent of our partner ecosystem, and their proficiency will help customers drive innovative solutions on the latest Microsoft technology.

Earning the Application Development competency helps partners differentiate themselves as a trusted expert to their customers through development and deployment of commercial or custom applications built using core Microsoft technologies like Windows Server and Windows 8 operating systems, the Windows Azure platform, Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 development system, Microsoft BizTalk Server and emerging cloud-based and web business models. By gaining access to a comprehensive set of benefits through the Application Development competency, partners can acquire new customers and help them be more productive and profitable through deployment of business applications, advanced web portals or rich client user interfaces that run on premises or in the cloud.
The Microsoft Partner Network helps partners strengthen their capabilities to showcase leadership in the marketplace on the latest technology, to better serve customers and to easily connect with one of the most active, diverse networks in the world.

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HitchHiker integrates global payment service provider eMerchantPay

With immediate effect, the German booking technology provider HitchHiker offers the processing of credit card payments via the online payment provider eMerchantPay, which will allow for seamless payment transactions for all kinds of flight bookings.

The UK company eMerchantPay is specialised in international online payment solutions and offers its customers the ability to process payment transactions in over 150 currencies and by applying various payment methods. The focus of the payment options is not only on the international credit cards but also on those, which are locally common in the respective country, as well as on a multitude of alternative payment methods. The scope of the eMerchantPay solution also includes numerous back-office functions such as: monitoring, analytics, payment reconciliations and refunds as well as a scalable, multi-level fraud protection.

„By integrating eMerchantPay we will be able to offer our national and international customers a wide portfolio of secure payment options via one single interface”, comments Thomas Boffo, Managing Director of HitchHiker.

 

eMerchantPay

eMerchantPay is a trusted global leader for international online payment processing gateway services, with merchant customers in over 40 countries. Moreover, innovative payment solutions offering processing in more than 150 currencies and various languages, plus dedicated account managers providing personal service that is second-to-none make international online payment processing easy, convenient and affordable. Quality, long-term, global banking relationships, plus in-house risk liability and accountability enable eMerchantPay to offer merchant accounts to businesses of all types and sizes, even in high risk situations where approval has previously not been secured.

Founded in 2002, the eMerchantPay Group is a privately held corporation headquartered in Europe with offices in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany and Bulgaria. eMerchantPay Corporation is a member of the Electronic Transactions Association. eMerchantPay Limited is registered as a Payment Institution with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA United Kingdom). The Group’s operations in Bulgaria are ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 27001:2005 certified by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) and its gateway and solutions are Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level I compliant.

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Multicom and HitchHiker announce new collaboration

The UK’s market leading travel technology specialist Multicom is joining forces with well-established German flight technology provider HitchHiker to share content and expertise across their respective core businesses. The deal will see the two companies cooperate in three key areas – content aggregation, exploring synergies in payment processing and data caching.The move, designed to save time and costs while avoiding the redundant developments associated with integration and maintenance of third party content, will provide almost immediate bottom line benefits to both Multicom and HitchHiker customers.

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HitchHiker scheduled flights can now be booked via the Peakwork Booking Hub

Peakwork has chosen the Flight API provided by HitchHiker to provide a scheduled flights module for all established GDS’. The module will be included as an interface within the Peakwork Booking Hub.

Tour operators will soon be able to perform availability checks and make bookings of scheduled flight and hotel components as dynamic packages via the Peakwork Booking Hub. The HitchHiker interface for each GDS provider is available via the HitchHiker Flight API, which is already being used by 45 tour operators, portals and consolidators as well as numerous agencies.

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SkyWork Airlines Direct Connectivity

Swiss carrier SkyWork Airlines bookable via HitchHiker direct connect

HitchHiker has launched a new direct connectivity to SkyWork Airlines, which connects Berne Airport with numerous European and North African destinations. This direct connectivity allows the booking of SkyWork Airline flights through HitchHiker’s Flight API as well as HitchHiker’s B2B and B2C booking applications.

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Flight content for the CIS

HitchHiker has added the Russian flight distribution system Sirena Travel to their existing GDS connections allowing them to now cover the markets in Russia and the CIS as well.

HitchHiker boosts flight content through Sirena Travel.

In addition to the GDS’ Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan,  the travel-tech-house “HitchHiker” has now integrated Sirena into their systems. HitchHiker customers are therefore able to query and book fares from Sirena if they use the HitchHiker Flight-API or one of the two booking platforms (HitchHiker.Agent and HitchHiker.Consumer).

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