Air Canada has announced it has completed its project of rebuilding and enhancing its airline direct connect API, marketed as AC2U.

In further positive developments for the airline, Air Canada has this his year had its achievements recognised by the World Travel Awards, having been nominated in a number of categories ahead of the Caribbean & the Americas Gala Ceremony gala ceremony later this year.

Dubbed the New AC2U and first revealed in August of last year as a joint effort with Farelogix, it is now beginning its initial customer implementations.

The New AC2U incorporates all the existing AC2U functionality plus added enhancements in the areas of shopping, flight changes, Flight Pass, and overall performance.

The New AC2U utilizes the new industry standard for airline XML connectivity, supported by the Open AXIS Group.

“The New AC2U, along with our network of Distribution 2.0 enabled partners, is an important step in delivering transparency and choice to the market, something we have been struggling to accomplish using existing distribution systems” stated Graham Wareham, senior director product distribution at Air Canada.

“Our goal has always been to make available to our travel agency partners and the corporate and leisure customers they serve, complete Air Canada content marketed and sold in a manner consistent with what customers have already become accustomed to at www.aircanada.com.”

Air Canada had already deployed its AC2U direct connect to a number of third party companies over the past several years.

These companies have all been given access to the New AC2U and implementation activities have already started, with completion expected by early in the second quarter. Once complete, Air Canada will have one of the most extensive Distribution 2.0 enabled networks for direct distribution.

In fact, KDS, an international leader in on-demand travel and expense, has completed its integration activities and will be the launch customer for the New AC2U, making the enhanced platform available to all of its existing customer base.