TPConnects Iris Delivers MCP Aggregation Layer, Enabling Instant Access to 60+ Airlines Through Single Protocol.
Industry-first MCP layer interface enables self-learning systems and automated capability discovery across entire airline network.
Dubai – April 7, 2026 – TPConnects Technologies, a global leader in airline retailing and content aggregation solutions, today announced Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration within its Iris platform, delivering an AI-ready interface layer that provides instant, normalized access to 60+ airlines through a single, machine-readable protocol.
Following successful proof-of-concept validation, Iris now provides online travel agencies (OTAs), travel management companies (TMCs), and travel sellers with an MCP interface that enables automated onboarding of new carriers and self-learning discovery of airline capabilities – transforming how quickly travel platforms can access and utilize airline content.
The Industry Integration Challenge
The travel industry faces a fundamental architectural challenge: airline content exists in fragmented formats across NDC, GDS, and LCC channels. Each carrier operates with unique schemas, capabilities, and feature sets. This fragmentation creates friction – slowing content adoption, requiring ongoing maintenance, and making it difficult for modern AI systems to reliably interact with airline capabilities.
While Iris has long aggregated 60+ NDC-enabled airlines, LCC carriers, and four major GDS platforms into unified content, the industry needed a protocol that could expose this richness in a way that systems – particularly AI agents and automated tools—could understand natively.
“The travel ecosystem is moving toward AI-driven commerce, conversational booking, and automated agents – but these systems need structured, machine-readable access to airline capabilities,” said Praveen Kumar, Co-founder and CTO at TPConnects Technologies. “MCP provides that layer. It transforms Iris’s aggregated airline content into a protocol that systems can read, understand, and interact with automatically. When we add a new carrier or an airline introduces new capabilities, MCP-reading systems discover them instantly – no manual configuration, no update cycles, no barriers to velocity.”
How Iris MCP Transforms Access
TPConnects’ MCP layer sits atop Iris’s existing aggregation infrastructure, transforming normalized airline content into a machine-readable protocol that MCP-compatible systems understand natively.
- Universal Protocol for Airline Content MCP provides a single, standardized interface to 60+ airlines, including LCC content, and 4 GDS platforms – creating consistency across the entire ecosystem.
- Fully Normalized, Structured Data All airline content is presented in consistent MCP format—fare families, ancillaries, rules, servicing capabilities – enabling genuine apples-to-apples comparisons and clear customer explanations across every carrier.
- Instant Airline Availability When Iris adds a new airline, MCP-reading systems gain access immediately. New content flows automatically across all connected channels without manual configuration or deployment cycles.
- Self-Learning Capability Discovery As airlines introduce new features, ancillaries, or servicing options, MCP-reading systems detect and understand them automatically – continuously expanding available functionality without human intervention.
- AI-Native Architecture AI agents, chatbots, voice assistants, and automated booking systems connect to MCP and immediately understand all airline capabilities—enabling conversational commerce, autonomous shopping assistants, and next-generation retail experiences through native protocol support.
Strategic Impact for Travel Sellers
The MCP integration accelerates innovation velocity and future-proofs travel platforms:
✓ Instant content access – Immediate availability of new airlines and features
✓ Accelerated innovation – Build AI agents, chatbots, and automated tools with native airline understanding
✓ Self-updating systems – New airline capabilities auto-discovered and available
✓ Consistent normalization – All airline data in uniform, machine-readable format
✓ AI commerce ready – Native protocol support for next-generation booking experiences
✓ Future-proof architecture – Protocol evolves as industry capabilities expand
Preparing the Ecosystem for AI-Driven Distribution
As agentic commerce and AI shopping assistants emerge as the next evolution in travel distribution, the ability for systems to communicate through standardized protocols – discovering capabilities dynamically – becomes critical infrastructure.
“This isn’t just about accessing airline content more easily,” Praveen Kumar added. “We’re building the self-learning, self-integrating foundation that the AI era demands. When travel platforms build chatbots or AI shopping assistants, MCP provides immediate understanding of every airline we aggregate – today’s 60+ carriers and every airline we add tomorrow. That’s the architectural shift from static connections to dynamic, protocol-driven discovery.”
Ecosystem Architecture
Iris MCP is designed to work seamlessly whether airlines operate their own MCP servers (such as those enabled through TPConnects’ Astra NDC platform) or rely on Iris to provide MCP-formatted access to their existing NDC, GDS, or API implementations. This flexibility ensures travel platforms gain MCP benefits across their entire airline portfolio immediately.
As TPConnects continuously adds features and capabilities to Iris, the MCP layer learns and exposes them automatically – ensuring connected systems remain current without update cycles or manual intervention.
TPConnects continues to empower travel sellers with innovative solutions that eliminate complexity, accelerate time-to-market, and prepare distribution channels for the AI-driven future of travel retailing.
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About TPConnects
TPConnects Technologies is an IATA-certified global Airline Retailing, NDC, and Content Aggregation solutions provider. Through twin flagship product portfolios – Astra for Airlines and Iris for Travel Sellers – TPConnects delivers innovative airline retailing and content aggregation solutions, generating over 2 billion orders for more than 60 customers.
Iris is a comprehensive travel content aggregation platform providing:
- Unified airline connectivity: Normalized 60+ NDC, LCC airlines + 4 GDS through a single API and platform
- [NEW] MCP Interface Layer: Machine-readable protocol providing instant access to all airline content
- Seamless end-to-end servicing: Streamlined post-booking management, handling changes, ancillaries, and disruptions.
- Content and payment management: Full control over content and forms of payment
- Pricing engine: Configuring custom markups and discounts to boost revenue
Astra NDC is a modern airline distribution platform, providing airlines with MCP-enabled gateways, B2B portals, and AI-powered retailing capabilities.
For more information, visit tpconnects.com
