Introduction

Nordic airline, Finnair, has gone live with the world’s first ‘Native Order’, as it continues to pioneer the industry with digital innovations and modern retailing capabilities. Finnair’s CEO, Turkka Kuusisto, created the first native order in the world, on Finnair.com – Finland’s largest eCommerce store – booking a flight from Finnair’s Helsinki hub to London Heathrow. Native orders are a foundational retailing capability that allow airlines to manage customer orders directly in a single record – aligned with IATA One Order directives – and a cornerstone for the traveller-centric retailing transformation in the airline industry.

Tiina Vesterinen, Finnair VP Digital Customer and Revenue, stated:

“The move to Offers and Orders supports our move towards modern retailing, enabling, for example, dynamic product bundles and enhanced ancillary sales, and improved relevancy to customers with personalisation in the future.” Translation: This initiative aligns with our strategy for modernizing retailing, allowing for flexible product offerings and better customer personalization in the future.

“This is a massive technological transformation, where everything changes: architecture, integration, data, applications, processes, ways of working. However, it is even more of a business transformation enabling us to rethink how we best serve our customers in the digital channels.”

“We are excited about the opportunities that the change brings us and encourage all the parties in the industry to join the transformation.”

Cyril Tetaz, EVP Airline Solutions at Amadeus, added:

“Amadeus and Finnair have reached a key milestone in delivering more traveler-centric air travel by implementing a single order management system.” Translation: This partnership marks a significant achievement in creating a more customer-focused air travel experience through our technology.

“This innovation brings the shopping basket concept to the airline industry, connecting any travel service such as air, transfer, or hotel into a single record. Orders are the foundation that enable a truly connected journey. This is a significant step forward in the retailing transformation and showcases our commitment to investing in and delivering advanced technology solutions for our customers. We’re turning vision into reality.”

Transition to New Models

As the first airline globally to transition to this model, Finnair is leading the technology transformation from PNRs to ‘Offers and Orders’, paving the way for modern retailing and ultimately, enhancing experiences for airline customers.

Finnair partnered with Amadeus, a leading travel technology provider, to become the launch customer for Amadeus Nevio, an Offer and Order-based solution built on modular and open technology. This collaboration reinforces Amadeus’ commitment to delivering advanced retailing capabilities and readiness to support pioneering airlines, like Finnair.

Conclusion

The move not only marks a significant development from Passenger Name Records (PNRs) to the new Offers and Orders model but also emphasizes Finnair’s aim to modernize customer journeys, enhancing communication between the airline and its partners while providing personalized and frictionless customer experiences.