Solars has just unveiled its new travel technology system, Solarnet, which allows agents to check up-to-the minute consolidator fares without having to log off the global distribution system.
Around 40 consolidators including Globepost, Lupas Travel, TradeWings and Flight Connections have signed up to advertise their inventory on the Solarnet system, which uses the GDS to make agents aware of consolidated fares.
Solars boasts that the system beats all other methods of distribution for consolidators because inventories are more up to date than if they were faxed through or sent on a disc.
Solars managing director Kevin Pickering said: “This is as real-time as you can get. Agents know that once they have seen a fare, it will almost certainly still exist when they go to book it. The agent also doesn’t have to go off the GDS to get into this system, they just call it up and it will pop up on the layer behind the GDS display.”
He added that the look of the Solars system was similar to the GDS, making the agent familiar with it.
Pickering aims to automate Solarnet so agents can book the fares they see and won’t have to return to the GDS. It also plans to add car-rental firms and hotel operators to its list.