Travel technology specialist Multicom has signed a deal with easyJet to use its booking Application Programming Interface.

Published: 15 Apr 2008

Travel technology specialist Multicom has signed a deal with easyJet to use its booking Application Programming Interface.

Under the terms of the deal, easyJet will provide an XML feed to FindandBook from its host reservations system, which can then be accessed by approved Multicom business partners.

The deal means the company will be licensed to distribute easyJet flights to approved users of its FindandBook service and follows moves initiated by easyJet late last year to build partnerships with selected third party system providers for corporate travel distribution.

Jerry Dunn, easyJet's distribution development manager, said: "For the first time, easyJet is working with third party system providers as we move away from unlicensed screen scraping and towards building solid partnerships with clear benefits for both parties. We are hopeful that other providers will follow Multicom's lead and avoid any action against unauthorised selling of easyJet flights."

According to Chris Nourse, general manager of Multicom, the structured interface is much more reliable than screen scraping which will be switched off as soon as the API connection is working.

Multicom's FindandBook service works by bringing bookable data from suppliers of flights, accommodation, package holidays, Eurostar and extras such as car hire, and feeding it directly to websites and travel agents. FindandBook currently powers around 40,000 searches a minute, with most searches delivering results in less than one second.