Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, is setting up new business operations for the first time in Kazakhstan, led by one of Travelport’s longstanding distributor partners. 

Global Travel Distribution Kazakhstan LLP, an enterprise of Singapore-based Global Travel Services Pte Limited and an existing Travelport distributor in four countries, will provide local travel agents with access to the Galileo and Worldspan GDS platforms and technology as well as offer customer support.

Travelport’s entrance into Kazakhstan follows the earlier announcement of a long-term content agreement with national carrier Air Astana, which designated Travelport as one of its “competitive booking sources” in February this year.  The move supports Travelport’s ongoing strategy to invest in emerging growth countries in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

The new operations will be led by Khwaja M. Emran ul Haque, head of airlines services & product, and Daraz Mahmud, head of subscriber services at Global Travel Distribution Pte Limited.  Haque brings a wealth of travel and management-related experience having worked in the industry for 14 years, notably managing Travelport’s distribution activities in Bangladesh, whereas Mahmud has effectively headed up subscriber services in Nepal.

“This new partnership marks an important milestone for Travelport, strengthening our presence in one of Central Asia’s biggest and most important territories while at the same time providing increased, localised support to our travel agency customers,” said Gavin Teale, head of distributor partners, Europe. “Emran and Daraz’s highly relevant travel expertise in this region make both individuals excellent candidates to lead our respective local operations here”.

Anis Ahmed, owner of Global Travel Distribution Pte Limited added: “We welcome the opportunity to expand our highly productive and close partnership with Travelport.  With Kazakhstan being our fifth territory in addition to Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, and Madagascar, we will continue to offer a professional, responsive and personalised service to travel agents and suppliers.  Travelport has big plans for the region and combined with our local know-how, we are well poised to deliver on those plans in Kazakhstan.”