Until now, airlines wanting to offer this type of connected journey typically faced difficult trade-offs: asking customers to travel without checked baggage, requiring them to collect and re-check their own bags, or investing heavily in complex legacy interline systems. GO7’s model is designed to reduce that friction in a more flexible and modern way.
Peter Glade, Chief Commercial Officer, TUI Airline, said: “Our customers expect seamless, connected journeys, and we expect to stay in control of every experience we put our name to. We chose GO7 because its platform lets us extend our reach and sell beyond our own network, while allowing customers to combine two flights with their bags checked through to the next stage of the journey. As the first airline to go live, we are backing an innovative model we believe can reshape how airlines build connectivity.”
Adam Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of GO7, added: “This is a new dawn for airline connectivity. With TUI Airline as our launch customer, GO7 puts the controls back where they belong: the airline’s code, the airline’s pricing, the airline’s customer and the airline’s rules. When an airline with the scale and customer promise of TUI Airline chooses to go live fi rst, it shows the industry that airlines no longer have to choose between reach and responsibility. This is not a marginal improvement; it marks a shift to connectivity that is led by airlines, built around their customers, and fully under their control.”
The milestone partnership sees GO7 connecting TUI Airline’s external New Skies passenger service system (PSS) into the new connection environment, enabling fresh network possibilities without changing the systems TUI Airline’s operation already depends on.
Peer Winter, Chief Distribution Officer at GO7, said: “With TUI Airline going live, Orchestrated Virtual Interlining (OVI) shows what airline-controlled connectivity really looks like: partners selling each other’s networks with full ancillaries on every segment, disruption handled end to end, and through-checked bags. Built originally for the Value Alliance and now on the GO7 Hub, a modern, AI-enabled stack with a choice of Settlement via ICH or Splitpayment, that is what sets OVI apart.”
The PSS-agnostic solution includes ThruBag©, GO7’s patent-protected baggage transfer solution; ConnectProtect™, an optional disruption guarantee with parametric cash payouts for missed connections; optional settlement via the IATA Clearing House; and the ability to align ancillaries and coordinated retail offers with other carriers.
Beyond the initial go-live, TUI Airline and GO7 intend to deepen the partnership and expand TUI Airline’s use of the platform, turning this fi rst connection into a broader runway for growth.
Tags: Peer Winter, GO7 Peter Glade, TUI Airline