{"id":95722,"date":"2026-02-20T06:23:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/894013896\/PeZSYEvde_mPFjP8"},"modified":"2026-02-20T06:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:23:25","slug":"how-riyadh-air-and-tech-partner-flyr-plan-to-reinvent-online-bookings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/how-riyadh-air-and-tech-partner-flyr-plan-to-reinvent-online-bookings\/","title":{"rendered":"How Riyadh Air and tech partner FLYR plan to reinvent online bookings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The launch of Riyadh Air has garnered considerable attention from across the world. <\/p>\n

But as Saudi Arabia\u2019s ambitious new carrier prepares for its public debut (the carrier having already operated a limited number of flights for company staff), a little known and truly innovative aspect of this project is coming to the fore. <\/p>\n

As soon as Riyadh Air begins to take online bookings, the carrier\u2019s prospective customers will be able to experience a new and promising approach to airline distribution and retailing. <\/p>\n

At the heart of this experiment is FLYR, a technology company founded by Alexander Mans, a Dutch entrepreneur based in the United States. The company has spent years working on ways to disrupt the travel tech industry.  <\/p>\n

What makes FLYR\u2019s approach particularly intriguing is its bold claim to eliminate the need for the traditional Passenger Service System (PSS).  <\/p>\n

The PSS, offered by companies such as Amadeus, Sabre and other smaller players, has been the backbone of airline technology infrastructure for decades, serving as the central system that manages customer bookings, seat assignments, check-ins, and countless other passenger-related functions.  <\/p>\n

Now, with Riyadh Air as its flagship customer, FLYR has the opportunity to prove its vision of PSS-less travel commercialization at scale. <\/p>\n

Recently, AeroTime sat down with Sam Chamberlain, FLYR\u2019s Chief Product Officer to gain a better understanding of what the company is building for Riyadh Air\u2019s grand launch and what it could mean for the future of airline distribution.  <\/p>\n

\u201cIt all really comes down to the fact [that] airlines have been very constrained by the technology they have been using for decades,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cWhen you hear us talk about these constraints, [it is] the PSS that really is the center of the bottleneck.\u201d  <\/p>\n

The systems currently used by most carriers were designed at a time when the airline business model was a lot simpler, when airlines were selling flights and little else. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest of digital commerce and retail in any adjacent or other industry has changed a lot over the last few decades,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cRetailers have been able to sell things in different ways. They\u2019ve been able to maximize profits and margins by retailing more intelligently, and through many channels. Previously, airlines have never been able to do that.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Airlines were once pioneers in digital retailing, but following that early start, they became stuck with legacy systems. These systems are structured around flights, which makes sense because that was (and to a large degree, still is) the airline\u2019s core business. However, the PSS was conceived at a time when the competitive landscape was significantly less dynamic. <\/p>\n

Forget about ancillary and third-party service retailing. Even if we just focus our attention on the airlines\u2019 core offering \u2013 the flight \u2013 it turns out that traditional booking systems are not that good at handling dynamic pricing.  <\/p>\n

\u201cFares are based on a discreet and limited number of possible price points, with each fare class being linked to one of the 26 letters in the alphabet,\u201d Chamberlain explained. \u201cEven if the airline wanted to sell a few dollars more or a few euros more than the price that they had decided, it would be very difficult to do without planning. This is because of the framework, the systems, and the distribution limitations.\u201d <\/p>\n

So why didn\u2019t the industry move to more dynamic systems? <\/p>\n

\u201cLegacy vendors had reasons not to advance this technology too much, because they also offer the GDS [Global Distribution Systems, a platform which is similar to a PSS but used by travel agents on behalf of customers \u2013 ed. note], so they have never been incentivized to modernize these systems,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cIt is true that there have been initiatives by organizations like the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to introduce new technology standards, such as NDC (New Distribution Capability) and One Order, which defines the concept of a single record of order for anything the airline sells, regardless of the channel it is sold through. These, in theory, provide airlines with more retailing capabilities, but adoption has been slow.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Likewise, Chamberlain acknowledged that some PSS platforms, particularly those designed with low-cost carriers in mind, are better at handling modern airline retailing and ancillary service offerings. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat shows that airlines, even when new technology options are available, have been conditioned to act slowly and take minimal risks,\u201d said Chamberlain,  <\/p>\n

He went on to add that, even then, distribution incumbents have little enthusiasm when it comes to rolling out new distribution technologies because they prefer tickets to be sold through legacy channels, which have historically been their cash-cows. <\/p>\n

Riyadh Air: a clean-sheet opportunity<\/h2>\n
Riyadh Air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is why the launch of a new, ambitious full-service carrier like Riyadh Air has provided FLYR with the opportunity to roll out its vision from scratch, and on a grand scale.  <\/p>\n

At this point in the conversation, Chamberlain outlined the key elements of the PSS-less system predicated by FLYR.  <\/p>\n

\u201cThe value comes first from flexibility, from the ability to sell anything, whether it\u2019s an airfare, an ancillary product offered by the airline, or third-party services. These can be sold along with the airfare. For example, a ticket for an event or a trip to the zoo. It could be anything, really,\u201d he said. \u201cThe offer and order systems that are now replacing the PSS are built in a way to allow the airline to sell anything.\u201d  <\/p>\n

As usual when talking about digital retailing, Amazon is discussed as a benchmark. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you shop on Amazon, you are possibly familiar with the idea of putting something in your shopping cart. You might come back to it later. You might even share that with somebody and say, \u2018here\u2019s what I want to buy, and you should buy the same thing\u2019. But you have never been able to do that with an airline,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cOur idea of flexibility means you\u2019re not constrained to buy a plane ticket in just one transaction. You can buy something and save it in your cart. You can then share that cart. You can invite others to buy something as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chamberlain illustrated this point with an example. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say you\u2019re booking a trip from Lisbon to Madrid for your family, but your brother and his family want to come as well. However, they want to book their own trip separately. You can share your shopping cart, and they can book their trip through the same order. They can even take a different flight. Or let\u2019s say you\u2019re going to treat yourself and fly business class, but you want to put the kids in economy. You can do that, because you have this flexibility.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then there is the idea of personalization, which has been around for a long time, but has been very difficult for airlines to implement,\u201d he continued. \u201cPrices are published through ATPCO [Airline Tariff Publishing Company, a clearinghouse and pricing data provider for the airline industry \u2013 ed. note], so even if an airline wanted to personalize, it would still be left with those prices.\u201d <\/p>\n

The \u2018Offer and Order\u2019 approach <\/h2>\n

Chamberlain reiterated that, with the \u2018offer and order\u2019 approach used by FLYR, airlines can manage their prices much more dynamically and offer true personalization. <\/p>\n

\u201cPersonalization is not just that your price from Lisbon to Madrid is going to be \u20ac200. It\u2019s also the idea of knowing your customer, knowing the intent of travel, understanding the context of which you book your trip, and saying, \u2019This guy is traveling from Lisbon on Monday morning, and is coming back on Tuesday evening. There\u2019s a good chance he\u2019s going on business. Let\u2019s make sure he has Wi-Fi included so that he can work on the flight. Let\u2019s make sure he can use the lounge when he arrives so he can get ready for his meetings\u2019. The airline can then put together an offer that is \u20ac200 or whatever the price, and it includes those things on the fly in real time.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Chamberlain also explained that with this technology, because of the way order records are kept, factors such as disruption have become easier to manage. It also makes it possible for artificial intelligence (AI) agents to take control of booking management autonomously. <\/p>\n

Since the AI agent will know about your preferences, it will be able to rebook you if, for example, your flight is cancelled. But the same AI agent will also make sure you have your preferred seat and that you\u2019ve got the amenities and ancillaries that you wanted. It will even be able to manage services related to that trip but offered by other vendors, such as event bookings. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis delivers a better experience to the passengers, and it allows the airline to unlock new opportunities,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cFor example, airlines in alliances or joint ventures will be able to cross-sell each other\u2019s services far more easily, because it will be possible to include everything in a single order.\u201d  <\/p>\n

To illustrate this point, Chamberlain returned to the topic of the Riyadh Air project. He highlighted how, even though the Saudi carrier has been able to begin from nothing, it does not exist in a vacuum, and not all of its partners will necessarily be onboard with this new technology.  <\/p>\n

\u201cI said a lot about the limitations of PSS and GDS platforms, but they are still a very important mechanism of distribution, and they will be for years to come,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd a new airline like Riyadh Air needs distribution.\u201d <\/p>\n

For example, many airlines use systems that still rely on EDIFACT, an old teletype-style messaging exchange.  <\/p>\n

To solve this issue, FLYR has created something it calls a \u2018legacy translator\u2019, a piece of software that makes it possible to connect FLYR\u2019s One Order platform to other legacy distribution systems. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe legacy translator handles all of that,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cWhen an order is created in our system and there is a partner airline involved, the legacy translator takes care of making sure that a PNR [Passenger Name Record, the code that passengers currently receive when booking an airline ticket \u2013 ed. note ] is also created for that carrier. A traditional reservation is then created, and if a ticket is required, it can also be created seamlessly. However, both the passenger and the original airline they booked with are only dealing with the \u2018offer and order\u2019 system.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Towards a post-PSS world? <\/h2>\n

Chamberlain was emphatic about the significance of what FLYR and Riyadh Air are trying to achieve. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe important thing to note here is that Riyadh Air is the first full-service airline that is not relying on a traditional PSS in any shape or form.\u201d  <\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cYou will hear other airlines talk about experimenting with moving towards \u2019offer and order\u2019, but underneath is a PSS to either fall back to or to synchronize with. With Riyadh Air, there is no PSS whatsoever. It\u2019s the first time proving the concept with a full-service airline which has joint ventures and relationships with other airlines.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Chamberlain also holds strong views about the future of the industry and where this technology is heading. <\/p>\n

\u201cLegacy airlines can exist without a PSS. They would just need to get rid of it and replace it entirely. It\u2019s a matter of time, and it\u2019s a big thing.\u201d  <\/p>\n

\u201cRiyadh Air is an interesting and unique case,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are both looking at greenfield opportunities. FLYR has no legacy baggage, we don\u2019t have to worry about past investments in PSS tech. Other vendors, even if they\u2019re going to build new offer and order systems, still have to divert a large share of their resources to maintaining and running legacy technology. We don\u2019t have that fear and Riyadh Air doesn\u2019t have that either, because they\u2019re a new airline.\u201d <\/p>\n

FLYR understands that entrusting something as critical as digital order management to an entirely new tech platform is a big ask for most airlines. This is why it has embraced a modular design whereby different pieces of this software platform can fit with those of other vendors and deployed progressively over time. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll airlines will tell you that nobody wants to stay with the PSS, but they are very apprehensive about making such a big move,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s very important to us to find ways to make that move as pain-free and as risk-free as possible.\u201d   <\/p>\n

According to Chamberlain, he envisages this happening gradually over time, with the two technologies running in parallel at the beginning to mitigate risk and make it more appealing for airlines to make the move. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made it so that the risk is low, and the reward is high,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will start demonstrating new use cases and opportunities and, bit by bit, airlines will switch more of their network into \u2018offer and order\u2019. They will take advantage of more use cases, more personalization, and more third-party retailing.\u201d  <\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be in one year, it could be in five years,\u201d he added. \u201cThe end state is that they won\u2019t need the PSS anymore, because the offer and order ecosystem does everything that they need.\u201d <\/p>\n

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… ways to disrupt the travel tech<\/span> industry.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What makes FLYR … been the backbone of airline technology<\/span> infrastructure for decades, serving … (IATA) to introduce new technology<\/span> standards, such as NDC … airlines, even when new technology<\/span> options are available, have …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}