Route Configuration

To send you the most relevant quote requests, we will set up and check your route coverage. There are a number of ways to configure your route settings:

• Default
• Automated Updates
• Manual Configuration

In most of the cases, we would prefer to use the default options - which is open to all routes available. However, you may choose not to open all routes because of the following reasons:

• Technical Capability - Your servers are not able to handle all traffic from Skyscanner.
• Commercial Reason - You have certain business requirements to follow. 

Default

Official Airline Guide

For our airline partners, it is recommended that we consume routes and timetable data from OAG. It requires no specific action from you, leave the rest to us and OAG.

No Limitations

For our Online Travel Agent (OTA) partners, you can elect to open all routes for search. This means that your server will get all search requests. No route list has to be provided in this case, but if required, we will limit the display to only specific user markets (points of sale).

Skyscanner systems include a comprehensive set of routes and timetables from around the world. We will only query our partners' systems for a particular departure-arrival pair (route) if we know that the route is actively operated. When applied to airlines, we will check if your carrier has active flights on this route, and for Online Travel Agents, we will check your individual configuration. If no particular settings are found, all requests will be sent to you.

Automated Updates

FTP

For routes update via FTP, please provide us with:

1. Credentials to access FTP server
   • Endpoint / IP address
   • Account 
   • Password
2. A file (preferably in CSV format) stored in the server which is constantly updated with latest routes data.

For airline partners, we generally expect the following fields to be included in the routes file:

Field	Description	Example
Origin	Origin Airport in IATA code	LHR
Destination	Destination Airport in IATA code	EDI
Days of Week with operation	Specify if the route has daily service	123.5.7
Schedule Starts	The date we should apply the route	2017-11-03
Schedule Ends	The date we should remove the route	2018-03-31

With this information, the output file may look like this:

origin, destination, days_of_week, date_start, date_end
LHR, EDI, 123.5.7, 2017-11-03, 2018-03-31
LHR, TPE, 1234567, 2017-10-28, 2018-03-31

For OTA partners, route data is usually configured via general route restrictions. As business requirements don't change frequently, automated updates may not be the most cost-efficient way of implementing this.

API Endpoint

Some partners may prefer to offer an API endpoint rather than a FTP download, we can also support that. It is recommended to provide a RESTful API with responses in JSON or XML format.

An example API response could look like this:

    {
        "origin": "TPE",
        "days_of_week": "1......",
        "destination": "SIN",
        "effective_start": "2018-07-26",
        "effective_end": "2018-09-01"
    },
    {
        "origin": "CFU",
        "days_of_week": "12345.7",
        "destination": "LGW",
        "effective_start": "2018-07-20",
        "effective_end": "2018-12-28"
    },
    {
        "origin": "IST",
        "destination": "BHX",
        "days_of_week": ".2.4.6.",
        "effective_start": "2018-08-08",
        "effective_end": "2018-08-15"
    },

The origin and destination (OnD) information are mandatory for the basic level or route configuration, while all the others further enrich the context of your actual offering. 

Manual Configuration

We will only consider manual route configurations if you are unable to use the preferred options listed above. Static files require a lot of upkeep and not enough autonomy for you to make changes quickly when needed. If you need to limit your routes and you have the capability to use one of our automatic route options (API or FTP), you'll have much more control over your offerings.

Manual routes can be set to either include or exclude O&D pairs. 

If you would like to specify the routes you operate, here are the two templates you can refer to configure your routes. 

CSV input file

AMS,MOW
AMS,airport,BER,city
iata,MOW,BER,city
MOW,iata,AMS,city

• Each route should be on a separate line (1st half -> origin, 2nd half -> destination)
• Types [ iata/icao/skyscanner ] will be automatically detected
• Preferences of [ city/airport ] can be overridden for an individual route node

JSON file

[

    {

        "from_place": "LHR",

        "to_place": {"code": "AMS", "preference": "airport"},

        "days_of_week": ["Tue","Fri"],

        "date_from": "2020-05-16",

        "date_to": "2020-10-10"

    }, {

        "from_place": {"code": "EDI", "type": "city"},

        "to_place": "LHR",

        "days_of_week": "Mon Wed",

        "month_of_year": "Jan"

    }, {

        "from_place": ["airport", "AMS"],

        "to_place": "LHR",

        "days_of_week": "Tue Fri", 

        "date_from": "2020-05-16",

        "date_to": "2020-10-10"

    }

]

• date_from (maps to → date_from_utc_epoch_days)
• date_to (maps to → date_to_utc_epoch_days)
• days_of_week (can be space separated string or list)
• month_of_year (can be space separated string or list)
• include
• direct