Airlines and online travel agencies can now quickly and easily inform passengers of destinations’ COVID-19 testing requirements inline as part of flight searches. The new data distributed by industry stalwart ATPCO provides clear details about which countries and airlines require proof of a negative COVID-19 test before departure and if vaccination is required to enter a country. The information is distributed in a structured manner as part of flight search queries, along side schedule and fare options, for a seamless presentation to consumers.
As an industry-owned company that exists to make flight shopping easier, these are the challenges we need to tackle by enabling a simple and standard format that can be leveraged from existing connections that channels, systems, and airlines already have with ATPCO. One-off developments won’t work.
– Jonathan Savitch, Chief Commercial Officer at ATPCO
Noting that it is “almost impossible for even the savviest travelers to keep up” with the ever-changing entry rules, ATPCO centralized and standardized the content for 102 airlines, covering more than 75% of global available seat kilometers, using simple to understand, uniform text and visuals. This structured data set will provide consistent and accurate (at least at the time of booking) data for travelers.
The data covers testing requirements today, given the rules in place from airlines and countries around the globe. If a vaccination requirement is added in the future – no country requires it yet today – the ATPCO data will seamlessly integrate those details into the search results as well.
The COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Requirements content is already live in multiple venues, including Sabre and Serko distribution platforms. Darrin Grafton, co-founder and CEO at Serko says “ATPCO’s Routehappy Content is key to Serko’s ability to help customers travel safer and smarter. With a single integration into Zeno we’re able to integrate the most up to date information to stay ahead of the evolving needs of the market. The efficiencies this brings our product development teams is a game-changer.”
ATPCO also provides data regarding airline policies around aircraft cleaning, mask requirements, temperature checks, blocked seats, and passenger capacity in the same Structured UPA format.
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This is a great feature. It will make planning and scheduling travel easier.
This is a great feature. It will make planning and scheduling travel easier.