The ticketing expert and distribution specialist, Hahn Air, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.

Travel Daily sat down with Hahn Air’s vice president of sales & agency distribution, Kimberley Long, to ask her a few questions about how Hahn Air has developed from a small ambitious start-up to become the market leader it is today.

A key player

TD: Looking at your company’s history, it seems that a lot has happened since you started the HR-169 ticketing business 20 years ago. What is the secret of your success? 

Kimberley Long (KL): When Hahn Air launched its ticketing business back in 1999, we found a truly unique way of facilitating indirect business between airlines and travel agents that nobody had thought of before.  We provided travel agents access to airline tickets, even in markets where the airline is not part of the local BSP or where travel agents don’t have the ticketing authority to issue tickets for a certain carrier. It turned out that our products closed a gap in airline distribution and helped airlines and travel agencies to get more business. 

Today, 20 years later, Hahn Air is a key player in the distribution industry and cooperates with more than 350 partner airlines. Over 100,000 travel agencies in more than 190 markets trust in our services. Our leading systems’ infrastructure encompasses memberships in nearly all BSPs and the ARC and connectivity to all major GDSs. In addition, we offer a host of services such as ticketing, settlement, international money repatriation and risk and fraud management.

A special highlight

TD: How is Hahn Air celebrating its 20th anniversary? 

KL: To express our gratitude for our partners’ loyalty and trust in our services we have planned a series of celebratory activities. A dedicated page on our website www.hahnair.com/anniversary describes our initiatives in more detail. A special highlight for us are the hundreds of congratulatory messages we received from travel agents and partners all over the world which we are sharing on our “Wall of Friends”. 

“A chance to say thank you”

In addition, we are holding birthday parties in exciting locations all over the world. Travel agents have the chance to win VIP tickets, including flights and accommodation for two, for each event. Coming up next on 26 September is our event in Bangkok — followed by our Dubai celebration on 30 October — and I’d like to invite all travel agents to participate in our anniversary challenge for a chance to be part of it. 

Of course, we are also celebrating this milestone within the company. For us, this is a chance to say thank you to all the colleagues who built and shaped our company over the past 20 years and who are serving our partners with passion and dedication every day.    

TD: Kimberley, can you tell us about your experience in the industry as well as the position you hold at Hahn Air today.

KL: Before joining Hahn Air in August 2014, I worked in the travel industry for 16 years and held senior sales and marketing positions at various companies such as Qantas Airways and Delta Air Lines. 

Currently, I lead a team of more than 60 distribution experts looking after our travel agency and TMC partners worldwide, manning our 24/7 service desk and promoting our products and services. In Asia, our team of five global account directors, together with local service partners, supports travel agents and creates awareness of Hahn Air and our ticketing services through presentations, trainings and networking events across the continent. Five dedicated Service Desk professionals assist travel agents with all questions related to HR-169 ticketing and our services. 

At Hahn Air, we have a tremendous team in place with around 300 colleagues from over 30 different nationalities. The company never stops to challenge and excite me, and I am looking forward to what the future has in store.

The future

TD: What plans does Hahn Air have for the future?

KL: The commitment of our partners motivates us to constantly improve and expand our products and services. We are continuously enlarging our network of partner airlines to offer travel agencies more ticketing choices.

We are especially proud of our product H1-Air which allows us to give travel agents access to more than 80 carriers that have only limited or no GDS connectivity of their own under the code H1. 

https://youtu.be/cP8LC3yNy8U

In 2019 alone, we have already added 15 new H1-Air partners and 12 new HR-169 partners. All of them are available on the insolvency-safe HR-169 ticket. We are also looking into new technologies.

Furthermore, just recently, we introduced our new NDC solution to offer an additional distribution channel to travel agencies and airlines. Soon, we will reach another milestone with 40 million insolvency-safe tickets issued since 2010. We are ready for the next 20 years and we are looking forward to being right next to our partners, supporting them and increasing their business.