Challenge
Adapting to customers, differentiating from competitors
SITA is a multinational information technology company that provides IT and telecommunication services to
the air transport industry. The company offers its services to around 400 members and 2,800 customers
worldwide, which it claims is about 90% of the world's airline business.
SITA needed to upgrade their popular mobile application in order to introduce new features, adapt to their
customers and differentiate it from competitors. Our client needed a user-friendly, convenient and
cost-effective Application Programming Interface (API) solution that incorporates existing SITA Reservation
Web Services (SRWS), in order to provide access to SRWS for external SITA users. It was necessary to migrate
from the old “Mobile Suite” (SITA’s web application for mobile devices) to the new iTravel API solution in
order to meet the demand of airlines and air transport developers around the world.
Approach
Joining together to innovate
Luxoft’s skilled engineering team extended SITA’s travel industry expertise and technological capabilities.
Luxoft met the client’s needs by incorporating an Agile methodology and a Scrum framework into the
development process, enabling transparency, efficient collaboration and ensuring a short time to market.
Together we created the iTravel API solution with a new specific REST API to meet the demand of SITA’s
customers accessing SRWS. We delivered end-to-end application development and migration.
Solution
Managing every aspect of the passenger journey from a personal smart device
The application lets passengers manage every part of their journey from their personal smart device.
External developers and airlines can also develop additional passenger booking and check-in apps for Android
and iOS, plus web apps for other devices.
The iTravel API solution incorporates integrated travel services, such as:
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Shopping – Comprehensive flight search function with built-in Deal API for
special price requests.
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Booking – Immediate booking for up to 9 passengers with reserve and hold
e-ticketing capabilities, and optional online payment support via credit card scanning.
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Check-in – Self-service check-in with automated issue of IATA/TSA-compliant
boarding card with Apple Passbook support,
and able to scan passports. The solution can be integrated with the Boarding Pass API for more
design and distribution control.
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Airline information – Viewable airline data including terms and conditions,
policies, routes and call center contact details. Passengers can also see their frequent flyer
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Customer journey – Customer journey API provides a record of the passenger’s
used services
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Baggage tracing – View the current status of a bag during its journey from
check-in to airport destination
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Flight information – Real-time boarding times and flight status information
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The solution provides secure and streamlined access to booking, ticketing, check-in, flight,
airline, and baggage tracing information, making it easy to navigate for passengers.
-
It features a loyalty program, supporting frequent flyer validation and loyalty points
redemption – making it a one-stop shop for travelers.
We also migrated all of SITA’s services and existing customers from their legacy web application into the
iTravel API solution for mobile devices. We then created additional monitoring, configuration and reporting
systems, and integrated them into the solution. The code of the app was published on developer.aero, a
resource controlled by SITA to promote their own solutions for use across multiple client airlines. The REST
architecture type used by Luxoft’s developers for the API simplifies communication and usage by other
potential client-airline development teams.
The iTravel API solution was deployed for six airlines, encompassing a cumulative fleet size of more than
300 aircrafts.
Result
Secure and streamlined access to booking, ticketing, check-in, flight, airline, and
baggage tracing information
-
Customer satisfaction and boosting sales: the solution increases passenger satisfaction by
quickly adapting services to the modern traveler due to a re-engineered code base and high
coding standards – ultimately boosting sales.
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Scalability: The solution allows developers to create and add on additional mobile services
without worrying about interfering with an airline’s policies and processes, such as
unintentionally merging flight availability with diverse fare options and payment policies. It
expedites the design of new services since external developers are not necessarily familiar with
every airline’s business operations.
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Faster time-to-market and Optimized costs
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Seamless integration: Our solution was smoothly integrated without any business slowdown, and
can be seamlessly integrated into any airline’s legacy web, mobile, social media or other
customer service application.
This API gives air transport developers access to data and processes to expedite innovation for the benefit
of the community and its customers. For instance, the Customer Journey API collects user activity, booking
patterns
and user preferences,
allowing airlines to use the information to make future data-driven and customer-oriented decisions.
