Travelport API
The third major GDS — Travelport's Universal API (uAPI) unifies three distribution systems (Galileo, Apollo, Worldspan) into a single interface offering rich global travel content and advanced merchandising capabilities.
What is Travelport?
Travelport is the third of the "Big Three" Global Distribution Systems, operating the Galileo, Apollo, and Worldspan booking platforms under a single technology umbrella. While smaller than Amadeus in global market share, Travelport has a particularly strong presence in the UK, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American markets, and is highly regarded for its rich merchandising content — the ability to display airline ancillaries, branded fares, and seat availability in a more retail-ready format than traditional GDS.
Travelport's Universal API (uAPI) is the developer interface that provides access to all three GDS systems. It supports flight search, hotel search, car rental, rail bookings, and more. The API is primarily SOAP/XML-based for core bookings, with REST/JSON endpoints available for newer capabilities.
For Indian travel businesses, Travelport is used by mid-to-large IATA agencies, especially those with significant international travel volumes or UK/Europe-bound routes where Galileo has particularly deep content.
Key Capabilities
Comprehensive flight search across Galileo, Apollo, and Worldspan inventory simultaneously. Branded fares, fare families, and ancillary availability displayed in results.
Travelport Smartpoint and Rich Content capability allows display of airline seat maps, in-flight entertainment, baggage allowances, and cabin photos.
One of few GDS platforms with native rail booking support — Eurostar, Amtrak, and national rail operators. Important for European travel itineraries.
250,000+ hotels through multiple connectivity options including GDS hotel chains, independent properties, and preferred hotel programmes.
Travelport excels at complex itinerary construction — open-jaw, circle trips, and multi-destination bookings that many other APIs struggle with.
Traveller profile management, corporate fare negotiation tools, duty-of-care compliance and travel policy enforcement features.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong in UK, Europe and APAC content
- Excellent multi-city and complex routing
- Rail booking capability unique among GDS
- Rich merchandising content for ancillary upsell
- Good for UK/Europe-focused travel portals
Cons
- Predominantly SOAP/XML — steep learning curve
- Requires IATA accreditation or commercial agreement
- Smaller market share than Amadeus in India
- Documentation less developer-friendly than modern APIs
- Setup takes weeks to months
Need Travelport GDS Integration?
UP17 Communication provides Travelport uAPI integration services for IATA agencies and enterprise travel platforms targeting European and international travel markets.
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