Airline Tariff Publishing Company
Encyclopedia
The Airline Tariff Publishing Company, ATPCO, or ATP, is a corporation that publishes the latest airfares for more than 500 airlines multiple times per day. Based at Washington Dulles International Airport
outside of Washington, D.C.
,ATPCO also has offices in London,UK and Singapore. ATPCO is owned by a number of US and international airline
s.
ATPCO provides fare data in an electronic format with the encoded rules associated with those fares, which make the information suitable for computer processing. The only competitor to ATPCO is SITA
, who distributes some fares in Asia
, Africa
and Europe
.
The users of the data are Global Distribution Systems (GDS), such as Sabre
, Amadeus
, Travelport
, and their associated travel agents; the Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) of airlines; online travel agencies such as Expedia
, Orbitz
, and Travelocity
; and other service providers in the travel industry. Because the data is formatted for computer processing, the latest fares can be loaded automatically, allowing these new fares to be sold in the market place in the shortest possible time.
Fares are distributed hourly each day (except for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday) for international markets, and three times a weekday and once Saturday and Sunday in US/CA markets. Airlines carefully monitor new public fares filed by their competition for publication through ATPCO. Once the fares have been distributed by ATPCO, airlines detect the action of other airlines increasing or decreasing their fares for specific connections, and then use this information to set their own pricing strategy. For instance, if they see a competitor introducing special promotional pricing between two cities, they may want to quickly react by filing their own special fares through ATPCO for that market.http://www.fastcompany.com/online/68/pricing.html
of America (ATA), was founded in 1945 to publish passenger tariffs (fares). In 1958 it assumed publication of freight tariffs, formerly produced by Air Cargo, Inc., and in 1965 the group divested from ATA as an independent company, Airline Tariff Publishers, Inc. It was reorganized and took its current name in 1975.
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
outside of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
,ATPCO also has offices in London,UK and Singapore. ATPCO is owned by a number of US and international airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
s.
ATPCO provides fare data in an electronic format with the encoded rules associated with those fares, which make the information suitable for computer processing. The only competitor to ATPCO is SITA
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
, who distributes some fares in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The users of the data are Global Distribution Systems (GDS), such as Sabre
Sabre (computer system)
Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...
, Amadeus
Amadeus IT Group
Amadeus IT Group is a transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry. The company is structured around two key related areas - its global distribution system and its IT Solutions business area...
, Travelport
Travelport
Travelport is a broad-based business services company and a leading provider of critical transaction processing solutions to companies operating in the global travel industry...
, and their associated travel agents; the Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) of airlines; online travel agencies such as Expedia
Expedia
Expedia is an Internet-based travel website based in the US with localised sites for 21 countries...
, Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. is an Internet travel company headquartered in the Citigroup Center in Near West Side, Chicago, Illinois. Through its primary web site Orbitz.com, Orbitz Worldwide enables travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products, facilitating 1.5 million flight...
, and Travelocity
Travelocity
Travelocity is an online travel agency and wholly owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corporation, which was a publicly traded company until taken private by Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group in March 2007...
; and other service providers in the travel industry. Because the data is formatted for computer processing, the latest fares can be loaded automatically, allowing these new fares to be sold in the market place in the shortest possible time.
Fares are distributed hourly each day (except for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday) for international markets, and three times a weekday and once Saturday and Sunday in US/CA markets. Airlines carefully monitor new public fares filed by their competition for publication through ATPCO. Once the fares have been distributed by ATPCO, airlines detect the action of other airlines increasing or decreasing their fares for specific connections, and then use this information to set their own pricing strategy. For instance, if they see a competitor introducing special promotional pricing between two cities, they may want to quickly react by filing their own special fares through ATPCO for that market.http://www.fastcompany.com/online/68/pricing.html
History
The Air Traffic Conference of America, a body within the Air Transport AssociationAir Transport Association
Airlines for America , formerly known as Air Transport Association of America, Inc. , is America's oldest and largest airline trade association. A4A member airlines and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. Based in Washington, D.C., the...
of America (ATA), was founded in 1945 to publish passenger tariffs (fares). In 1958 it assumed publication of freight tariffs, formerly produced by Air Cargo, Inc., and in 1965 the group divested from ATA as an independent company, Airline Tariff Publishers, Inc. It was reorganized and took its current name in 1975.