Thomas Cook is to undertake a major overhaul of its flight booking engine and management systems following a deal signed with German technology company Partners Software.
The Bremen-based company will assist the operator with a streamlining of its pan-European brands into a single platform for aggregating airfares from GDSs, low-cost carriers and web fares within dynamically packaged products.
The system will work hand-in-hand with the back office project currently being developed for Thomas Cook by Blue Sky Travel Systems and will take three years to implement across the entire portfolio of brands.
It is unclear as yet how this week’s merger between Thomas Cook and MyTravel will impact on the scale of the project, known as Project Globe.
Technology for Thomas Cook’s packaged holiday flight bookings operations will continue to be operated by in-house systems.
Thomas Cook chief information officer Reinhard Eschbach said: “Consumer booking behaviour is forcing tour operators to change and offer more flexible holiday arrangements.
“With the globe project we are at the forefront of that change and with Partners Software’s technology we are able to handle the complex air products required in this new world.”
Partners Software will be creating a new version of its existing LOW.FARE system for the Thomas Cook deal. The company already works with Thomas Cook for some of its German brands.
The deal is one of the biggest for Partners Software in its 20-year history, ranking alongside similar systems built for business travel giant Carlson Wagonlit.
Partners Software managing director Kai Hanneman said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to work with Thomas Cook on such a high-profile project.
“LOW.FARE is truly unique when it comes to aggregated airfare content and we are convinced it is the right solution for the tour operator across all its brands and distribution channels.”
A general UK launch for the LOW.FARE system was announced at the Travel Technology Show.