The travel industry heavily relies on exchange of information with an increasing number of partners. It is essential that the systems in place support efficient communication between the airlines and their industry partners
This commercial necessity has led airlines to recognise the need for standards that can be used across industries. They mandated IATA to help them develop these standards within a number of functional areas:
- BSP Data Interchange Standard (DISH): Develop a set of standard formats to support the reporting of passenger agency sales and ticketing data.
- Invoicing Standards: Develop industry invoice standards and commonly associated terms, definitions and codes to simplify the adoption of electronic invoicing in the air transport industry and deliver substantial benefits to airlines and their suppliers.
- Cargo Standards: Develop worldwide industry standards and procedures that ensure safe, quick and economic transportation of air cargo. Cargo standards span a variety of areas from electronic data interchange to regulations for the transport of live animals, perishables and dangerous goods.
- Fuel Data Standards: Develope effective data exchange across the aviation fuel industry.
- Passenger and Airport Data Interchange Standards (PADIS): Develop Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and XML Messages (Schemas) related to airline passenger travel, airline to airport information exchange and flight scheduling/slot information exchange.
- Reservations Standards: Develop recommendations on all procedures and policy issues relating to reservations, ATA/IATA Reservations Interline Message Procedures - Passenger (AIRIMP) manual, and the IATA Reservation Services Manual.
- Scheduling Standards: Develop an official set of recommended practices to guide the industry along mutually compatible lines for schedule data handling procedures.