Beginning in January, flight shoppers will see a dramatic increase in product visuals, such as seat images and virtual cabin tours, says ATPCO, the airline-owned technology company that provides a platform for airlines to file their fares.
The increase will come as ATPCO begins providing its 449 airline members with free access to the visual flight shopping
displays in its Routehappy merchandising solution.
ATPCO informed airline members in June that it plans to make the solution free. Since that time, ATPCO said 20 airlines have prepared visuals for usage ahead of the Jan. 1 launch, including Finnair, Virgin Australia, Norse Atlantic and Breeze.
The photos and videos can be deployed by airlines in their own shopping channels as well as via third parties, including GDSs. An ATPCO survey of 894 travelers across 30 countries, which was published this year, found that 80% of travelers want to see their seat before booking and 66% said visuals increase their likelihood of paying for a better seat.
ATPCO said that since June, airlines have submitted more Routehappy visuals than they had in the previous two years combined.
"This increase means that, by launch, consumers will see at minimum a 43% increase in the number of visuals available in the market than currently live on flight shopping websites," ATPCO said. "With 47 additional airlines already working with ATPCO to create this content in the coming months, this number will only continue to increase."
Advancing airline distribution
ATPCO has previously offered Routehappy visuals as a paid service. During an April 2024 interview, then-CEO Alex Zoghlin said that 42 airlines, including Southwest, United, American and Delta, had integration deals with Routehappy for photo and video content, with displays live in OTAs, GDSs, corporate booking tools and metasearch engines.
ATPCO chief strategy officer Tom Gregorson said the organization decided to make visual assets free for member airlines in order to advance the airline distribution industry. Currently, visuals are available for only about half of published schedules.
"This will accelerate growth, give sales channels and GDSs broader coverage and ensure travelers see the full product behind every offer," he said.
ATPCO bought Routehappy in 2018.