Glossary

Question 1

Airline designator

Answer 1

Code designated by IATA to identify an airlines (eg. QF for Qantas Airways).

Question 2

Airport code/designator

Answer 2

A three letter code used to identify an airport (eg. SYD for Sydney, JFK for New York John F Kennedy Airport).

Question 3

BSP

Answer 3

Billing Settlement Plan. BSP is a system designed to facilitate and simplify the selling, reporting and remitting procedures of IATA Accredited Passenger Sales Agents, as well as improve financial control and cash flow for BSP Airlines.

Question 4

Carrier

Answer 4

An industry term for ‘airline’.

Question 5

Consolidators

Answer 5

Third party distributors of airfares, usually to travel agents and travel product wholesalers. The fares are usually discounted compared to the ‘published’ fares set by airlines. Consolidators rarely sell direct to consumers.

Question 6

Codeshare

Answer 6

Term used to describe an arrangement where one airline sells seats (the marketing carrier) on a flight operated by another airline (the operating carrier). Both airlines display their respective flight numbers. This is particularly common within airline alliances, such as Star Alliance. eg. Qantas operates QF1 but codeshares this flight with British Airways, who sell seats on the flight as BA7321.

Question 7

Segment

Answer 7

A clearly identifying part of a journey usually between two cities and involving one departure and one arrival. It is distinct from a ‘flight’, which may incorporate stop-overs even where only one flight number is used.

Question 8

IATA carrier

Answer 8

A carrier that is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Question 9

Layover

Answer 9

A long, usually over-night, stop between flights usually involving a change of flight number and/or aircraft.

Question 10

Nett Fare

Answer 10

Fares available for sale specifically by a distributor/s that are negotiated between the individual distributor and the airline.

Question 11

Overbooking

Answer 11

A practice adopted by airlines where more seats are confirmed on a flight than available on the aircraft. Based on the assumption that a variable percentage of confirmed passengers “no show” for the flight.

Question 12

Open Jaw

Answer 12

Term used to describe two segments on an airline ticket where a passenger flies into one airport and out of another.

Question 13

Published fare

Answer 13

A fare “published” by an airline and available for sale to everyone (as distinct from “nett” fares) either directly by the airline or a third party distributor (eg. travel agent).

Question 14

Transit

Answer 14

A period of time spent between flights.

Question 15

Tariff

Answer 15

The published rates, charges and related rules of a carrier.

Question 16

Yield

Answer 16

Airline term for revenue per unit, eg revenue per mile per passenger.

Question 17

Yield Management

Answer 17

The management, by airlines, of revenue based on the assumption that:
There is a fixed amount of resource available for sale (eg the number of seats on a plane)
The resources are perishable and time limited after which they become valueless (eg airline seats unsold on a flight perish once the flight departs)
That the cost of the seat (the common resource) is variable depending on the terms of sale (eg airlines reduce the unit price on flights where there are many unsold seats and increase the unit price on flights where there are few available seats, thereby maximising the amount of average revenue generated per seat mile on a particular flight.