Meet Gaurav Roy, Chief Technology Offer of Airline Software Provider: Accelya

Could you tell us about Accelya?

 

Accelya is a global leader in airline software, powering Amazon‑like retailing for over 200 airlines. From Qantas in the East to Hawaiian in the West, and with giants like Emirates, Lufthansa, and American, the world’s most important airlines are being powered by Accelya.

We put passengers at the heart of the experience, boosting margins and profitability for our customers.

For too long, airlines were held back by clunky legacy systems. Ten years ago, if you booked a multi‑leg trip and added a bag last minute, the bag was treated as a separate transaction – so if your first flight changed, your bag didn’t automatically follow.

With our FLX ONE Platform, all of that is unified. Just like shopping on Amazon, everything sits in “one order” – flights, ancillaries, and services – giving airlines full control of their Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver journey.

What excites me most is the timing. AI is transforming airline retailing right now. It’s a catapult for value creation, enabling use cases with Acellya’s AIVIATOR, we couldn’t even imagine before – from real‑time dynamic offers to agentic autonomous servicing.

Exciting times for Accelya and the Airline industry with the ‘one order’ and ‘AI’ combined transformation.

 

 

What do you think makes this company unique?

 

It comes down to three things: being open, being modular, and being cutting‑edge with cloud‑native and AI‑powered technology.

Replacing legacy airline tech is one of the hardest challenges in travel. That’s why our FLX ONE Platform is designed to integrate seamlessly, letting airlines modernize at their own pace – picking only the modules they need, without being locked into rigid contracts or hidden fees. Truly modular!

And the key is, we’ve been doing this from the very start – since 1998, when we helped power the NDC specification with IATA. We are doing the same with ‘one order’. Openness is in our DNA.

What makes my team’s job truly exciting is applying these unique differentiators and cutting-edge tech like cloud and AI, to deliver real customer value.

 

 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 

Whether it’s species or companies, evolution is the key to survival and leadership. At Accelya, we’ve been deliberately strategic in evolving to stay not just relevant, but indispensable.

I’d frame it on two planes: product value and technology.

On product value:

Accelya pioneered New Distribution Capability (NDC) – the standard that allows airlines to distribute fares and ancillaries dynamically to agents, corporate buyers, and partners. Today, we power over half of all global NDC transactions, trusted for our scale, resilience, and commercial agility. Airlines count on us not just for fares, but for merchandising across ancillaries that expand horizons for both passengers and airlines.

Last year, we launched the FLX ONE Platform – an open, API‑driven retailing backbone. It gives airlines full control across the ‘one order’ Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver journey: from creating rich, dynamic offers to real‑time order management, seamless settlement, and frictionless airport experiences. We’re unifying everything – even cargo – into one modular, open architecture.

On technology:

Here’s a telling start: 47% of S&P 500 companies referenced AI in quarterly reports, not one of them was an airline. That’s where Accelya is changing the game. We launched FLX AIViator, AI to deliver real ROI, not hype.

This isn’t experimental. We track usage daily, focusing on measurable value: smarter decisions across commercial, cargo, finance, and operations. Throughout my career at HP, Google, Samsung, and Qualys, I’ve been driven by a single goal: build differentiated technology that delivers customer value and impact. That’s exactly what we’re doing with AIViator.

What makes this journey exciting is the validation from airlines worldwide.

The airline trust confirms our evolution toward an open, modular, cloud‑native, AI‑powered ONE Order world is the right path forward in our evolution.

 

What can we hope to see from Accelya in the future?

 

Expect to see us driving the next wave of airline retail innovation. Research shows two thirds (66%) of airlines have implemented NDC, with distribution expected to triple over the next three years.

To remain competitive and be in with the times, airlines must proactively evolve – and that is where Accelya comes in. The transition for airlines to a cloud native and AI powered ‘one order’ will not be an easy one, but you’ll see us empowering airlines to move at their own pace, enabling new use cases, we never thought was possible before. We will also do in an open and modular fashion working with airlines, our competition and our partners – evolving IATA specifications.

The transformation is underway rapidly and we’re proud to be at heart of this shift, supporting airlines 2to unlock new revenue and deliver smarter, seamless retailing.