TAG Airlines, GO7 Partner to Expand Network

Guatemala's national carrier, TAG Airlines, has partnered with GO7, a travel technology company committed to transforming travel brands by putting power back into their hands to more efficiently grow their global sales reach to scale its international presence. TAG will utilize W2 by GO7 for ticketing and distribution in international markets.

As a regional airline, TAG Airlines' growth strategy depends partly on its ability to quickly launch new routes and distribute its inventory more broadly. With just one agreement, the W2 solution enables TAG to turn on ticketing capability in over 190 markets worldwide, including markets that participate in IATA's billing and payment clearinghouse (called "BSP" or "Billing and Settlement Plan") and those that don't.

As the airline strives to become the carrier with the most connectivity in the Ruta Maya region, partnering with GO7 allows TAG Airlines to save costs and increase revenues through worldwide BSP ticketing; 100K+ IATA agencies are now able to issue TAG Airlines tickets worldwide.

Known as the official airline of the Ruta Maya region (southern Mexico and the northern part of Central America), TAG Airlines is already a key player in the Central American and Mexican passenger travel market, leveraging the region's growth as popular tourist destinations. According to the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo ("CPTQ"), by October 2022, passenger flow through the Cancun terminal had increased by almost 16% compared to pre-pandemic levels,

With nature-based and sustainable travel becoming more popular, the appeal of Guatemala's lush rainforests and scuba diving hot spots, such as Roatan in Honduras, is growing. With the global inflation rate soaring, tourists are seeking more economical destination options like Guatemala, which is ranked as the least expensive Central American country to travel to, according to Budget Your Trip's Travel Cost index. With its existing routes connecting these popular tourist destinations, TAG Airlines is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this growing demand.

"We look forward to working with GO7 to execute our revenue growth strategy by expanding our network in Central America and Mexico. We can get to market quickly with any new route now that we have ticketing enabled," said Guillermo Bran, Head of Alliances at TAG Airlines. "We chose GO7 as our partner because their W2 solution was tailored to our needs and offered better commercial conditions than any other vendor on the market. GO7's network of carriers is second to none, providing us with many interlining options that will enable us to begin operating these new routes."

Opening underserved markets and streamlining payments

GO7's W2 ticketing solution enables carriers to earn incremental revenue in underserved markets, offline markets such as physical agents and remote, niche, or non-strategic markets where participating in a BSP is either unavailable or not cost-effective. W2 addresses a major pain point for airlines entering and operating in new markets: payments. Airline partners can avoid the lengthy process of establishing agreements with credit card issuers country by country by utilizing existing W2 billing and settlement plan (BSP) agreements in 190 markets.

"Our W2 Ticketing solution will help TAG sell their inventory more efficiently through their existing network of traditional travel agencies in the US, Canada, and Spain, as well as expand into new markets," said Peer Winter, Chief Distribution Officer of GO7. "We're eager to help TAG Airlines expand and bring more service to new markets, further democratizing air travel in the Central American and Mexican regions."