Embrace the API Economy & Collaborate using Cloud-based Software
In March 2017, Air Malta was $12.1m in the red. It was faced with possible closure, as it had trouble competing with big airlines like Air France and Lufthansa. Something miraculous happened by late 2018. Its number of passengers rose by 11% to two million. Air Malta also turned in a tidy profit of $1.5m, its first in 18 years. This was due to clever use of technology. It started with adaptation of web-based APIs.
As part of a growing collaborative economy, Air Malta made it easier for other companies to use its data and to sell what Air Malta offers, as part of their own offerings. Aside from making the process fast and painless, API interfaces also let Air Malta connect more easily to cloud-based software, handling different parts of airline operations such as flight operations and reservations.
Also Air Malta sold its summer landing rights at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports to Malta's government. Then it leased these rights back, giving it a cash boost to support its new business model. After two decades of losses, tiny Air Malta not only survived, it became profitable by embracing new technology.
Examples of NRT product innovation - OfferCraft (https://www.nrttech.com/products/offercraft/) and Visual Limits (https://www.nrttech.com/products/tables/)