Aviation distribution can be quite complex. Travel agencies don’t have access to all airline content and airlines cannot make their flights available via every travel agency. Hahn Air is closing this distribution gap with their ticketing solutions, making hundreds of additional airlines available to travel agencies. In an insightful conversation, Bharat Kapoor, Regional Vice President of Hahn Air, shared with us how the company is generating incremental revenue for travel agencies and airlines.
– Vartik Sethi
Q. What are the services Hahn Air is offering for travel agencies and airlines how are they generating incremental revenue and unlocking additional markets and ticketing opportunities?
Hahn Air has been offering distribution solutions to airlines and ticketing services to travel agencies since 1999. By partnering with Hahn Air, airlines can sell their flights in markets where they would normally not be available. This means, of course, incremental revenue for these carriers. If an airline is, for example, not in the Indian BSP or does not grant ticketing authority in India, they can still be issued by travel agents in India in their GDS on the Hahn Air ticket. Our services are strictly B2B, meaning we provide our partners’ tickets via travel agencies only. The advantage for travel agents is that they have access to more routes, more destinations, more airlines and more combinations of airlines on one single HR-169 ticket. And they can even use the standard processes of their GDS, no training is required. They only need to choose HR as the validating carrier. And best of all, the service is absolutely free for travel agents. Even partner airlines that are not a member of any GDS themselves are available to Indian travel agents in all major GDSs via the Codes H1 and X1.
Q. How are Hahn Air’s distribution services helping airlines and travel agents to enhance their business?
We already talked about how Hahn Air’s services are creating additional ticketing opportunities for travel agents with more than 350 partner airlines. We are also generating incremental business for airlines by giving them access to more than 100,000 travel agencies in 190 markets around the world. But it is so much more than this: Hahn Air has been a reliable partner for travel agencies since more than two decades. Therefore, smaller airlines that are not well known in the market, benefit from Hahn Air’s excellent reputation. On the other hand, travel agencies can trust in the quality of our partners and can count on receiving support with ticketing questions 24/7 via our Service Desk. In addition, we offer the free and automatic insolvency protection Securtix. Should any partner have to cancel flights due to becoming insolvent, we grant a ticket refund for the passengers. This is adding an extra layer of security and reassurance for our travel agents who can always book our partners with confidence.
Q. How does Hahn Air’s distribution system help airlines and travel agents? Please throw light on Hahn Air Systems’ and Hahn Air Technologies’ distribution solutions.
Please let me clarify, Hahn Air does not run an independent distribution system. Rather, our services are available by using the standard GDS processes. To issue a Hahn Air ticket, travel agents do not need to leave their GDS. All they need to do is go through the standard ticketing and payment processes and simply choose Hahn Air (HR) as the validating carrier. They will then be able to use the familiar GDS processes to issue a Hahn Air HR-169 ticket. On the Hahn Air website, we provide easy step-by-step guides on how to issue a Hahn Air ticket in each GDS (https://www.hahnair.com/de/gds-ticketing-assistant). For airlines that are not in a GDS at all under their own two-letter code, we make them available in all major GDSs. If they are a partner airline of Hahn Air Systems, they are available under the code H1. If they are a partner airline of Hahn Air Technologies, they are available under the code X1. As Hahn Air Systems and Hahn Air Technologies are sister companies of Hahn Air, the travel agents can simply select Hahn Air as the validating carrier and issue a Hahn Air HR-169 ticket. These services are all directed exclusively at travel agents, not directly at passengers.
Q. What does it mean for holding a Hahn Air ticket for the end consumer or the travel agent?
If a passenger holds a Hahn Air ticket, it means that they are travelling with one of our more than 350 partner airlines. Hahn Air is not the operating carrier of their flight, but Hahn Air enabled and provided the ticket via the travel agency. For travel agents, it is therefore important to inform the passenger about the operating carrier of their flight. This is especially true for H1 and X1 flights that are marketed by Hahn Air Systems or Hahn Air Technologies. The travel agency and the passenger can find all information about the operating carrier as well as further details by visiting mytrip.hahnair.com. We recommend that travel agents print or download the information or share it with the passenger via email.
Q. How has the India market evolved for Hahn Air over the years? Currently, how many travel agent partners are there in India? What are your marketing strategies to reach out to Indian travel agents?
India is a very important market for us. Back in 2002 we first built our roots in the market through our appointed Service Partner Bird Travels, New Delhi. As we saw the potential that the market held, we decided to establish our own office in New Delhi in 2013. To acknowledge the importance of the market, we also established a dedicated Service Desk for India. The 24/7 Service Desk can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. In addition, I am happy to provide trainings, sales support and answers on how to increase a travel agency’s revenue with the Hahn Air solutions.
Due to the pandemic, there has been a high fluctuation in travel agencies around the world. Therefore, we will place a strong focus on explaining our solutions in quick and easy-to-understand ways. In addition, we will continue to support our more than 5,000 travel agency partners in the Indian market with regular newsletters on recent Hahn Air developments as well as targeted newsletters informing about the latest routes and promotions offered by our growing partner network. We will remain committed to providing in-house agency trainings, webinars and sales visits.
Q. Hahn Air strives to support the local community and more environmentally friendly air transportation. Tell us about Hahn Air’s current nature-positive initiatives.
We are assuming responsibility for our impact on the environment and on society. We, therefore, believe that it is our duty to invest in a sustainable future and support social projects benefitting our local community and people in need around the world. To mitigate climate change, Hahn Air partners with veritree, a technology platform enabling and tracking global restoration projects. Hahn Air committed to restoring coastal mangrove forests in Kenya and Madagascar by planting 150,000 trees which equals an area of 15 hectares. The Hahn Air tree population, once matured, will sequester for an average of 32,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. To contribute to more sustainable air transport, we are also looking into solutions for our travel agency and airline partners. It is our declared goal to offer carbon compensation options for flights distributed through Hahn Air in the future. In addition, we are supporting social projects around the world via our own foundation, the Hahn Air Foundation.
