Interface between a system for flight bookings and a railroad company (Original Proposal)

Always Catch the Connection

Conveniently manage travel bookings across different means of transport and providers

Mobility today often means combining different means of transport on the way to a destination. In order to make it easier for their customers to plan their journeys, transport companies therefore also offer booking options in which they handle partial routes via other providers and integrate them into their own offers. For an airline,

we developed a management solution that combines air and rail travel. The software integrates the operations of the booking and management systems involved, automates selected administrative processes and keeps all flight and rail timetable data up to date

challenge

Handling timetables and bookings is already complex for individual means of transport, as delays can jeopardise connections or an exchange of vehicle types changes seat reservations that have already been made. For journeys for which a combination of different means of transport is desired, the number of parameters that have to be reconciled increases considerably. In addition, the data from the different booking and management systems of the respective providers must be merged and coordinated in such a way that the customer reaches the desired connections, finds his booked seat and has a seamless travel experience.

Our contribution

For an airline, we developed a management system with a graphical user interface to manage travel bookings where part of the journey is made by train. Our solution replaced the previously manual synchronisation of flight and train schedules, which was very error-prone. It also made the time period more flexible within which reserved seat allotments on trains can be adjusted to match current demand.

The solution we delivered combines the timetables retrieved from the train provider’s server with the flight schedules and integrates all the airline’s booking and management systems involved in the overall process. Changes in the timetables and flight schedules can thus be automatically matched and existing bookings adjusted accordingly.

Benefits for the Client

Through the automation of essential coordination processes, all relevant data can now be viewed by the airline at any time and errors caused by manual editing of data records are avoided.
The integration of the booking and management systems involved ensures that the latest data can always be processed on all systems.
The software makes travel planning more reliable and accurate overall, which significantly increases customer satisfaction.
The more flexible adjustment of reservation quotas prevents over- and under-utilisation, which avoids unnecessary costs on the part of the airline and guarantees passengers the desired seat on the train.
In the case of processes that require the intervention of a clerk, the management system informs the relevant staff by e-mail, which reduces personnel effort to the required minimum.