A student travel portal has been created as Key Travel expands its services into the education sector.
Students gain access to flight discounts, increased flexibility and extra baggage allowance.
The travel management company, which specialises in organising travel for the humanitarian, faith and academic areas, has negotiated discounts of up to 5% with a number of airlines.
Fourteen UK universities, including the University of Birmingham, have signed-up for the new portal.
Universities have around the clock access to the travel intelligence behind the portal, gaining insights on arrivals and departures, as well as carbon emissions.
The portal went live in August, with the first international student travelling from Salt Lake City to the UK.
The new technology will allow 24/7 access to bookings, changes and cancellations, bridging the gap between time zones.
Key Travel chief executive Saad Hammad said: “Broadening our academic services to students marks a major step in Key Travel’s evolution. It is an exciting time and we are very proud to bring new levels of support to the sector, helping our university customers encourage international students back to campus.”
Chief commercial officer Lisa Akeroyd, who oversees the new service, added: “We are stepping into a new market at a challenging time but are determined to offer unrivalled products and services that will bring major benefits to students and those managing the international student experience.”
Luke Wales, university of Birmingham’s international director of strategic engagement, said: “Planning to live and study in another country can be stressful at the best of times, but this year has been exceptionally so.
“Responding to changing needs, Key Travel has delivered an exceptional new service, working with us to set up the portal and enabling us to communicate preferential fares to our students as they become available.”
The development came as a Key Travel survey found that two out of five organisations felt that travel remains important to the future of business while indicating that they will be placing greater emphasis on sustainability, especially reducing their carbon footprint.
Eight out of ten expressed a view that they could do more in the fields of travel sustainability and environmental conservation.
The majority of those surveyed acknowledge that travel is vitally important for those providing humanitarian or spiritual support around the world or assisting the spread of knowledge and for students who need to journey to cities around the globe to complete their studies.