Shortcuts to the project
Our client TUI Flight previously used five systems on 20 individual websites for flight searches, as well as development teams from three core regions with employees from 30 countries. Therefore, the flight search function for TUI Flight's various source markets needed to be reduced to a uniform solution. The goal: to save development costs and retain customers internationally through a uniform appearance. We also standardized business processes to save costs on the customer side. Our many years of experience and expertise in the flight sector (website, booking systems, etc.) convinced the customer to commission us with the transformation.
The technologies and approaches we use
Our team applied modular web architecture (MWA), which is based on the core technologies of microfrontends and static site generation. As this was the first time this technology had been used, a great deal of technical expertise had to be built up and shared with other teams and employees on the customer side. The standardization of websites from different source markets/companies required many processes to be compared and, where necessary, adapted. To do this, we had to take an in-depth look at the source markets that had previously been served by other software solutions. We also changed the language used in the project from German to English in order to form teams with employees from different countries. With the help of AWS, we developed and deployed all components “serverless.” We used GitLab for source code management and CI/CD. We developed the backend code in Node.js using TypeScript. We developed the frontends with Preact. Our static site generator is based on 11ty (eleventy). We used Contentful as a headless CMS.
Our project approach
Implementation
As a first milestone, we implemented the technologies on the tui.com/flug page, which we were already familiar with. We did this by iteratively replacing an existing solution in several sprints. This was easily achieved through the use of microfrontends. At the same time, we expanded the static site generator to support multiple clients.
Launch and expansion
Once the adjustment was live, we expanded the solution and applied it to the Austrian website tui.at/flug. Previously, a white label solution had been used for this, which we then replaced with our own development. We focused on ensuring that the new flight page would not have a negative effect on existing package holiday offers.
Integration of additional pages
The last of the DACH sites we integrated was the Swiss site tui.ch/de/flug. Previously, it was not possible to book flights on tui.ch. We also took the first steps toward making the site multilingual.
Next steps
Parallel to implementation in the DACH region, we have already implemented parts of the new developments on the websites tuifly.be, tuifly.fr, tuifly.ma, and tui.nl.
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