How cooperation between Spirit Airlines and Kiwi.com is benefiting consumers of airline and travel-tech company

Earlier this summer, Kiwi.com announced a partnership with Spirit Airlines involving the integration of Spirit’s New Distribution Capability (NDC).

In the following interview, Pedro Martin Gutierrez Kardum, Senior Key Account Manager at Kiwi.com, reflects on why the relationship with Spirit is a great example of how collaboration can bring benefits to all, but most importantly to the customer.

Why is the recent collaboration with Spirit different to other partnerships Kiwi.com has?

The partnership was possible due to the integration of Spirit’s New Distribution Capability (NDC). While many airlines use GDS as a system provider to distribute inventory, NDC becomes a more direct connection between the airline and the travel agent, strengthening the partnership in between. NDC allows us to see a complete commercial offer, including ancillary services, such as bags and seats, while the airline reduces costs related to GDS.

What are the highlights you see for Spirit Airlines from the collaboration?

We found a common interest between the airline and ourselves by leveraging our global reach and our capabilities to build virtual interline connections on top of the Spirit route network, massively expanding the potential customer base for Spirit Airlines.

Because of Kiwi.com’s global approach, Spirit can immediately gain access to previously inaccessible global markets, integrating its flights into long-haul itineraries combined with other airlines and ground transportation.

And how does Kiwi.com benefit from the cooperation with Spirit?

Firstly, any direct partnership with the airline strengthens our trust within the travel industry. The direct integration with Spirit Airlines brings our customers, who rely on Kiwi.com unique travel options, more opportunities for convenient and affordable flights across the Americas.

Thanks to the NDC implementation, we get immediate access to the airline offer, allowing us to offer the best fares to our customers, including seat booking with the actual seat map, variety of baggage selection, and potentially, other kind of ancillaries, like fast track or priority boarding, when available. As a result, our customer gets the best price possible while being flexible and choosing from the vast number of unique itineraries.

Since the integration was rolled out for Kiwi.com across all markets, it has already seen progressively increasing traffic, and we are confident it’s just the beginning.