A spectacular increase in online sales from 3 to 60% on its aerlingus.com site is a primary example of the significant investment return that Aer Lingus has realized in recent months using a revolutionary airline distribution and fares pricing system from leading Irish travel technology supplier, Datalex.

In restructuring its business, one of the main savings for Ireland`s national carrier has been in the area of fare quotation costs, mainly through the success of its aerlingus.com site. Using Datalex’s distribution and fares pricing solution, and modified data from an ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company) output, Aer Lingus can retain more centralized control of the creation, maintenance and distribution of its fares thereby significantly reducing the cost of third-party transactions in addition to simplifying fare structures. New fare models have been introduced in which a number of restrictions no longer apply including Saturday night stays, and passengers are not penalized for one-way purchases.

The aerlingus.com site enables passengers to browse and book available fares for up to six passengers and also incorporates a flexible fares calendar. The calendar enables passengers to search for cheaper flights for a configurable amount of dates on either side of their selected departure and arrival dates.

To increase direct Web sales in order to compete with low cost carriers, airlines need to simplify their fares and pricing systems to make it easier for passengers to buy tickets using their Web sites, said Aidan Brogan, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Datalex. Datalex has a long and successful relationship with the Aer Lingus team and with them we have developed a totally flexible, high performance, direct distribution solution, which provides alternative lower cost options for fares distribution and pricing including full e-ticketing capabilities.

The new pricing solution controls the storing, pricing, retrieval and validation of fares within a live system and uses modified data from a daily ATPCO output. The key benefit of the Datalex solution is that it enables airlines to offer valid and available flight options, which have already been priced, while reducing the number and cost of fare quotation transactions on third party systems.

“Our business transformation over the past few years has required us to take some bold steps in the way we distribute our fares to our customers. Our partnership with Datalex has enabled us to take those steps as they have clearly interpreted our business requirements and translated them into an innovative technology solution, enabling us to see a significantly visible return on our investment,” said Brendan Rice, Manager Tactical Marketing, Aer Lingus.