EasyJet is to make its fares available to leisure agents via global distribution system Amadeus for the first time from today.
The fares are expected to go live on Amadeus this afternoon. The low-cost carrier is also in discussions with other GDSs to open up its fares to their leisure agent users.
The airline has been available on GDSs for four years, but only through travel management firms.
Fares are already available to leisure agents through Multicom via an XML feed, but were previously unavailable to agents using a GDS.
Paul Simmons, easyJet’s UK director, said: “Our objective is to create a level playing field and remove the barriers for leisure agents. We are correcting an inequity. We like to make life easier if we can.”
Simmons insisted the airline’s focus was still on the corporate travel side. The airline increased the range of fares available to corporate travel agents through the GDS last year. Simmons said the airline’s efforts to grow corporate sales had been “very successful”.
He added: “The majority of our focus is still on business agents. We have a small sales team now for the business community.”
The move suggests that easyJet is looking to further strengthen ties with the trade, at a time when Ryanair is seeking new ways to block agent sales.