Easy combination: Transport aggregator

Vipservice has several key IT solutions (for example, Billetix, Portbilet) that can be linked to other partners. To simplify integration and improve interoperability between all the necessary tools, it was necessary to create a non-combining system which became a transport aggregator: Ticketme.online.

Vipservice online products have different engines. Integration with buyers of each of the systems would involve significant costs. Therefore, creating a platform with a unified industry protocol was the ideal solution.

Gradual development process, growing and changing market needs, made the aggregator an external product: it is easier in all senses to have a single access point, with all support possible. Lack of additional services, presence in global distribution systems, increased profitability of subagents (below the threshold values for connection), which certainly makes cooperation even more beneficial.

Transport units preceded long-term development, research and testing. A separate team was created to study the experience of foreign colleagues from Germany and the USA.

Today this solution has a high connection speed. This is due to the fact that Vipservice has a unique "double" experience - both understanding what the end client needs and knowing the specifics of the supplier.

Who is currently cooperating with Vipservice on the Ticketme.online system? Kazakh railways, Iranian airline Mahanair and others. “It is of great interest now, and we have the best conditions”, explains Sergey Khmelnitsky who was at the background of all development (from «experimental sandbox» to finished product, transport aggregator) and is the director of information services development of the holding.

Secondly, this is "mass market" - content in-demand from leading suppliers. The unified external protocol of NDC Vipservice allows the end user to benefit from all carriers, while large airlines are also interested in connection through the NDC protocol. This allows expanding sales with extra options. This program is already cooperating with S7, Lufthansa, Qantas, AirFrance-KLM. In the process of integration into the Transport Aggregator, there are several more parties (for example, Aeroflot).

In addition to airlines, global distribution systems are also moving towards NDC: Vipservice is participating in a pilot project with Amadeus. The holding’s great experience in this area attracts its partners to cooperation.

It is worth noting various types of transport, the choice and variability of combinations for travelers: a trip by train or bus, a combination with transfers. All this is available through the unified XMLAPI.

The Aggregator, besides traditional services provided by suppliers, allows additional capabilities, for example, in the form of business intelligence.

“Ticketme.online is a one of a kind project. When the company started developing, aero was still a branch not adjusted to retailing, a consumer model that gradually evolved into all industries that deal directly with the customer. The logic of the “technological hub” was the right decision,” sums up Sergey Khmelnitsky. This is what was missing, and the development of the Vipservice holding came to the market at an opportune moment, and the prospects are still huge.