Skift Take
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? ATPCO's first acquisition in its 53-year history shows that rich content will play a huge role in the air distribution marketplace.
In a move designed to shake up the airline distribution marketplace, the old stalwart Airline Tariff Publishing Co. (ATPCO) acquired relative newcomer Routehappy on Wednesday to add a suite of rich content services to its offerings.
The parties didn't disclose the terms of the deal. Routehappy will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of ATPCO and will be rebranded as Routehappy by ATPCO.
ATPCO collects fare information from airlines and distributes it to travel agencies and corporations around the world, making it a key player in the complex world of fares and flight distribution.
Upon its launch in 2011, Routehappy planned to be a metasearch company with a flight and amenity rating system, but pivoted to providing rich airline content for flig