Ryanair is in talks with Amadeus and Sabre following its recent GDS deal with Travelport.
The carrier’s fares will be distributed via Travelport GDSs from April 2 and Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said yesterday: “I expect Travelport to be only the first GDS.”
O’Leary said the move is designed to target business traffic. He said: “We need to start courting a segment of passengers we have previously dismissed – corporate travellers.”
But he said: “We do expect travel agents to use Ryanair to put together packages – for example, to put accommodation in the Canary Islands with a Ryanair flight.”
Asked why the carrier had overturned its previous policy toward GDSs and agents, O’Leary said: “We need to see the airline evolve.
“At first, Ryanair only worked with travel agents. The problem was the agents’ commission and the fees the GDSs took came to about 22% of revenue.
“The internet came along and that cost went to zero.”
But he said: “Travel agencies have changed and you have much more-efficient GDS distribution. The GDSs are more cost-conscious and the travel agent model has changed. Agents are charging passengers or end users a fee.”
He said: “Are we interested in a lot of travel agent distribution? Not really.
“But we have to make Ryanair visible to companies. The strategy is to broaden our distribution platform so anyone going to any platform will see Ryanair’s low fares.”