Distribution Chain

Overview

The Distribution Chain aids Airlines identify the parties within the transaction from the Customer (via any intermediaries) to the Airline. Each party can identify themselves as a Seller, Distributer or Carrier, and optionally add additional identification information along with a mandatory identifier.

Sample Implementation

A Distribution Chain Link will be added for each party in the chain; its the responsibility of that last organisation before the airline to ensure all the information is relevant and complete before sending to the airline.

Some items to note:

The Ordinal is the order at which the parties have corresponded, in increments of 1, seeded at 1.
The Organisation ID can be any type of identifier (for example a carrier code such as ‘XB’ or an Aggregator identifier as bilaterally defined)
The Role is defined as Seller, Distributor or Carrier (as per the Enum)
Optionally, parties can add additional contact information within

CLID
For identification of corporate fares, CLID, please use the Offer and Order Criteria.

<n1:DistributionChain>
	<cns:DistributionChainLink>
		<cns:Ordinal>1</cns:Ordinal>
		<cns:OrgRole>Seller</cns:OrgRole>
		<cns:ParticipatingOrg>
			<cns:OrgID>SELLER0001</cns:OrgID>
		</cns:ParticipatingOrg>
	</cns:DistributionChainLink>
	<cns:DistributionChainLink>
		<cns:Ordinal>2</cns:Ordinal>
		<cns:OrgRole>Carrier</cns:OrgRole>
		<cns:ParticipatingOrg>
			<cns:OrgID>XB</cns:OrgID>
		</cns:ParticipatingOrg>
	</cns:DistributionChainLink>
</n1:DistributionChain>

Distribution Chain Roles

Roles	Meaning	Examples of Organizations that may perform the role
Seller	An organization that offers a shopping capability to a shopper.	Acme Travel Agency
Distributor	An organization that provides a distribution capability. Consolidator, Aggregator, also known as an intermediary except for the Seller which is also an intermediary is represented separately.	Global Aggregators R Us
Carrier	An organization that carries the passenger, baggage, or goods, and/or commits to delivering the carriage as well as any related services such as issuance of the ticket, creation of Order, etc.

Using the Distribution Chain

Scenario 1

General / Corporate (Corporate ID/CLID passed in ProgamContract/ContractID or Corporate Code passed in ProgramAccount (Corp fares)

Ordinal: 1

Role: Seller
ParticipatingOrg/Name: Acme Travel Agency
ParticipatingOrg/OrgID: Identification
SalesAgent/ID: * Potentially a sub agent, as bilaterally agreed.
SalesBranch/ID: * PCC as bilaterally agreed

Ordinal: 2

Role: Distributer
ParticipatingOrg/Name: Global Aggregators R Us
ParticipatingOrg/OrgID: AGG0001
SalesAgent/ID:
SalesBranch/ID:

Ordinal: 3

Role: Carrier
ParticipatingOrg/Name: IATA Air
ParticipatingOrg/OrgID: XB
SalesAgent/ID:
SalesBranch/ID:

Scenario 2

General / Corporate directly calling the Carrier (Corporate ID/CLID passed in ProgamContract/ContractID or Corporate Code passed in ProgramAccount (Corp fares)

Ordinal: 1

Role: Seller
ParticipatingOrg/Name: Jerry's Corporate Systems
ParticipatingOrg/OrgID: ABC0001 * for example: IATA, TIDS, or BILATERAL Identifier
SalesAgent/ID:
SalesBranch/ID:

Ordinal: 2

Role: Carrier
ParticipatingOrg/Name: IATA Air
ParticipatingOrg/OrgID: XB
SalesAgent/ID:
SalesBranch/ID:

Scenario 3

TIDs agent with Consolidator

--> Shopping

--> Paying

Scenario 4

OTA

When to populate the Chain

It is understood that each party adds to the Distribution Chain as needed however the last Distributor (last organization before the airline) is responsible for populating this structure.