title: “Supply Strategy — Learn via Flashcards” category: Supply Strategy status: Draft created: 2026-02-25
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🧠 Supply Strategy Flashcards
Test your knowledge on F-lightBook’s flight supply strategy, models, and economics. Click on a question to reveal the answer.
The Supply Models
What are the 3 primary architectural models for flight supply?
- OTA Model: Redirects users to an Online Travel Agency to complete the booking.
- NDC (Direct/DAI) Model: Direct integration with airline APIs where the platform handles checkout and ticketing.
- Hybrid Model: A staged approach starting with OTAs and selectively adding NDC for high-value corridors.
What is the primary operational advantage of the OTA model?
Capital and operational lightness. You do not handle payments, refunds, chargebacks, or post-booking support. The OTA assumes all operational liability.
What does NDC stand for, and why do airlines push it?
New Distribution Capability. Airlines push it to bypass costly GDS (Global Distribution System) fees, enable dynamic pricing, and sell rich ancillaries (like extra baggage and premium seating) directly through third parties.
What are the main risks associated with an NDC-heavy start?
- High technical complexity (managing the Offer-to-Order lifecycle and TTLs)
- Payment compliance (PCI-DSS) and fraud liability (chargebacks)
- Working capital float exposure (paying airlines before customer funds settle)
- Post-booking support and servicing burden
Unit Economics & Revenue
What is the difference between CPC and CPA in the OTA model?
- CPC (Cost Per Click): You get paid every time a user clicks out to the OTA, regardless of whether they book.
- CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): You only get paid a commission when the user successfully completes a booking on the OTA.
How is "Margin" calculated in a Direct/NDC model?
Gross Margin = (Ticket Price × Markup%) + Airline Commission − Payment Fees − Refund Leakage
What is RPS and why is it the key metric?
Revenue Per 1,000 Searches. It normalizes revenue against top of funnel volume, allowing you to directly measure the effectiveness of the search algorithm, conversion rates, and supplier yield simultaneously.
RPS = Searches × CTR × Conversion × (Commission/Markup) / 1000
Architecture & Implementation
Why is Total Search Latency bounded by the slowest supplier?
Because meta-search relies on fan-out parallel querying. You must wait for all suppliers (or until the timeout threshold) before the Deduplication and Ranking engines can do their jobs and present the final UI. If one supplier takes 4 seconds, the user waits 4 seconds.
What happens when "Price Mismatch" occurs?
Price mismatch occurs when the price displayed on the search results differs from the price at checkout. This happens because flight prices and inventory are highly dynamic, and APIs return cached or timed offers (TTLs) that can expire before the user completes the booking.
In F-lightBook's recommended strategy, what is the role of Duffel vs Verteil?
- Duffel: Acts as the primary aggregator providing broad global coverage and a developer-friendly modern API for fast MVP launch.
- Verteil: Acts as the secondary provider with deep, specific strength in GCC corridor airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar) for richer NDC content.