Travelport wins court victory

Travelport has claimed victory in the latest round of its legal battle with American Airlines after a US court affirmed the technology group's preliminary injunction against the airline.

The injunction, granted on June 1, gave US online agent Orbitz, which is partially owned by Travelport, the right to continue selling American Airlines' flights. American Airlines had threatened to withdraw its fares from Orbitz in order to drive more sales through its own Direct Connect channel.

The two parties agreed to extend their existing full-content agreements in August, making the injunction redundant, but Travelport chief legal officer Eric Bock said: "We are very pleased with the Appellate Court's recognition of our contractual rights. Those rights are critical to protecting our agencies" ability to have and fully use AA"s content."

He said Travelport, which also owns the Galileo and Worldspan global distribution systems, will continue to pursue its anti-trust claims against AA before the trial court but, in the meantime, it will "continue to work constructively with AA to ensure that consumers, corporations and travel agents continue to benefit from the most transparent travel booking processes possible".

By Linsey McNeill