next generation travel & technology · next generation travel & technology. amadeus stays...

interface for Amadeus users in the Indian subcontinent

Next generation travel

& technology

Amadeus stays as the uncontested leaderWinner of Superbrands award for the last three consecutive years; twice awarded as the ‘Best GDS’ by TAAI; and the recent recipient of ‘Times Travel 2011’ award in the category of ‘Best Backend System’.

Amadeus key advantages & USPs

• Highest number of System User Airlines (over 150)

• Only GDS to have integrated content in Amadeus PNRs from 3rd party

• Unique solution to sell LCC content through ‘Booking Builder’

• First to launch mobile solution in India through Mobile Selling Platform

• Largest number of saleable airlines

• Largest number of saleable hotel properties with highest number of Best Available Rate

• First GDS to launch solution for corporates to track their employees through Amadeus One Click

To learn more about how the world’s best travel technology provider can help your business succeed, call us on our 24x7 help line on 1800 111 200 or visit us at www.amadeus.in

Wins all the way Awards and accolades

1

G L O B A L N E W Sinterface

Published by: Marketing & Corporate CommunicationsE-9, Connaught House, Connaught PlaceNew Delhi - 110 001

Marketing & Corporate CommunicationsGraphics & Design: Sibendra Kumar SahooFor Private Circulation only

• Amadeus training session organized in Chittagong and Sylhet

• Amadeus practice training environment is replaced with Amadeus skilling environment

• Training session organized in Coimbatore

• Amadeus e-Support centre for travel agents

25 PROVIDERS • China Southern Airlines enjoys Interactive Seat Map

• Five Forty Aviation enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• Israir Airlines enjoys Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

• Aircompany Khors enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• Germania enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• Syphax Airlines enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• Singapore Airlines successfully migrates to Amadeus’ Altéa CMS

• JetairflyenjoysAmadeusAccessSell

• Eritren Airlines enjoys Amadeus Access Sell, Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

• Eurolot enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• Nature Air enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

• DeltaAirlinesenjoysoperationalflight information

• Joint Promotion

29 GLOBAL NEWS • Amadeus and OAG launch market-leading daily airline schedule

• AmadeusconfirmslandmarkappointmentofHerveCouturier

• Amadeus releases its latest corporate responsibility report

• Amadeus recent study: Asia region leads global travel growth

• Amadeus signs global partnership agreement with Akamai

3 INDUSTRY SPEAK • GDS Revolution in Tourism & Avaiation Industry

• What thepresshas tosay

7 EVENTS • Event organised for Amadeus hospitality solutions • Bird Group sponsors CII’s National Conference and

Annual Session 2012

• Spotlight: Future of Indian Aviation

• IATA Convocation ceremony held in Vadodara

• Going green

• This calls fora celebration!

• Transcending Boundaries

• Bird Retail opens Bally store in Mumbai now

• World renownedSegwaytoursnow in India

• Bird Automotive launches the iconic Mini Cooper in India

• Bird Academy: Spreading education and hope for a better India

• Bollywood’s hottest go ice skating

• IATA convocation ceremony held at iSkate

• WhenWinningBecomesAHabit

15 PRODUCT+ • Amadeus Ticket Changer (ATC)

• BirdRes Hotels

• Amadeus e-Travel Management

• Mobile Selling Platform App for iPhone & iPad users

• Amadeus OneClick

ContentsIssue 2, August 2012

2

interface

We make progress togetherWelcome to the August issue of e-Interface

2012. As we step into the third quarter of the financial year, business and industry need to revitalize themselves in order to re-energize the economy and successfully surmount domestic and global challenges. I welcome all constructive debate and suggestions on ways to improve and evolve the travel distribution system in the best interests of the whole travel industry. Change is currently sweeping through our communities, and this momentous drive promises a new way forward.

The GDS industry experienced a second-quarter slowdown in all regions of the world, particularly in the U.S. and Western Europe. Global traffic results for June show a continued slowing of growth in the demand for air transport, as per International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports. The global economic outlook remains uncertain, and both air traffic and GDS volumes have shown weakness in recent months.Although there are some pockets of solid performance, it is difficult to detect a strong trend—positive or negative—at the global level.

DGCA data shows that in March last year, all airlines had together operated a total of 49,168 domestic flights, but this March, the number fell to 48,926. Growth will continue in the domestic Indian market in FY2012/13, albeit at a slower pace, partly on account of increasing costs and fares. Meanwhile, international traffic continues to feel the impact of the rupee’s decline against the dollar and deteriorating global economic conditions. For the airline industry the result is higher costs – of fuel, aircraft leases and maintenance. Rising airport costs are another issue impacting airlines. CAPA had recently released its annual outlook reporting that Indian aviation enters 2012 facing its most critical challenges since the advent of the 2004 industry reforms.

We, at Amadeus India, remain committed to working closely with airlines to help them differentiate and personalise their content, and that we share their goal of creating the most efficient and cost-effective method of distribution for all

stakeholders in the value chain. Airlines have a similar set of goals as we do,

to grow revenue and optimize costs and get close to their travelers. The growing number of airlines agreeing to sell their branded fares and ancillaries via the Amadeus marketplace serves as an evidence of the value GDSs represent to carriers in the sale of ancillary products. We currently have agreements in place with 43 airlines to implement ancillary services in one or more of their sales channels including GDS, their website and/or their ticket offices.

The situation is same across the world, with GDSs having invested heavily in new technology to make airline ancillary services available, so that our members can distribute and sell these ancillary services to consumers. Ancillary revenue has become a crucial factor in fiscal viability for airlines all over the world. Ancillary revenue methods allow consumers to add convenience, comfort, and value to the travel experience.

The GDS channel today is the most cost-effective tool for buyers of business travel to manage the complexity of supply, and in fact many airlines utilize the technology and products of the GDSs to run their web sites.

I also take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and sincere thanks for your continuous support throughout our business journey.

I assure you that Amadeus India will continue to be the best place to work at, will offer you the best of the services and will be a loyal associate to our channel partners in the years to come.

Wishing a Happy, Warm and Safe festive season to you and your family in advance.

Tidingsfrom Managing Director’s desk

Ankur BhatiaManaging DirectorAmadeus Indian subcontinent

The GDS channeltoday is the mostcost-effective tool for buyers of business travel to manage the complexity of supply, and in fact many airlines utilize the technology and products of the GDSs to run their web sites.

3


GDS Revolution in Tourism and Aviation Industry

Whatthepresshas tosay

Industry SpeakAviation news

4

interface

By Anil Mathur

Change, undoubtedly, is the rule of the world in all spheres of life, and travel and aviation are no exceptions to this. A lot of changes and upgradations keep on occurring in this industry at frequent intervals and depending, to a large extent, on the requirement of the hour.

In this context one of the most revolutionary changes that has taken place, is the coming on scene of the Global Distribution Systems and the products that they offer, and continue to add on a regular basis, led by big players like Amadeus. This ensures that the GDSs continue to be relevant for all the stakeholders in the field, be it the airline, agent or the actual traveler.

It is easy to forget the past, atleast as far as technology, or its gains, are concerned. How many in the travel and aviation industry today recall what ABC is, apart from being the first three letters of the English alphabet?

Do many even know what ABC stands for in the aviation and travel sectors? It is the Air Booking Catalogue, which was a necessary part of any airline/agent’s office. It was bulky, costly and had to be replaced every month, and frequent changes had to be incorporated even in between the weeks, as changes in airline schedules were made. Needless to say, all this was done manually, causing many hassles and updating problems.

All this has changed now, thanks to the Global Distribution Systems like Amadeus, which has dispensed with the need to have the ABCs in all offices. Click of a button is all you need to do now, instead of staff having to go through pages and pages of the bulky ABCs, points out Mukesh Goel, Director, Oriental Travels, who has seen it all – the past and the present and how this revolution has made life more convenient and easy.

“What the GDS can do in a minute will take a long time if one relied on the internet as such”, says Goel.

This view is shared by most agents, airlines and other stakeholders. Arun Varma, Director, Allways Marketing, who is a keen observer and player in the tourism field, shares his views on the subject , saying that ‘GDS system is the best

GDS Revolution in Tourism and Aviation Industry

INDUSTRY SPEAK

5


GDS Revolution in Tourism and Aviation Industrything to happen to the travel industry, as the inventory of the seat capacity is available at the click of a button and with shorter response time, productivity is higher.’ He goes on to add that ‘it is beneficial for all segments of the industry as it facilitates management of inventory, revenue and record keeping. Audit and central control becomes easier as well.’

Interestingly, these views of Arun Varma are echoed and shared by most stakeholders that this writer spoke with.

For Rajindera Kumar, Director, Ambassador Hotel, New Delhi, a former president of the FHRAI, a major plus point of the GDSs is that they go in for a contractual agreement with the other stakeholders, and this ensures the vital safety and security for all concerned.

To be fair, there are certain negative points of the GDSs as well, as pointed out by Goel, like the cost factor involved and the fact that most LCCs are out of their systems. But Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia , CAPA, who is big into research and consultancy, reveals that encouraged by the success and gains of the GDSs, even some

LCCs are opting to use the systems, at least in a limited way. When long haul travel and bigger fleets are involved, the use of the GDSs becomes all the more beneficial.

Kaul calls the GDSs a ‘critical component’ of the whole travel chain. He notes that gradually the use of the GDS may be getting reduced but they are still important and will continue to be so.

In this context, it is important to note that major players like Amadeus have continued to add products and services which make it attractive and enhance its utility for the travel community, be it the airlines, agents or the actual traveler, to whom the benefits reach through the airlines and agents. They are able to give quick and comprehensive service to the client, thanks to the Global Distribution System.

Krishna Mohan, Managing Director, Southern Travels, points out that the GDS has played a major part in his growth and development strategy and has ensured a better service to clients and wider reach for his many programmes and products.

INDUSTRY SPEAK

Change, undoubtedly, is the rule of

the world in all spheres of life, and travel and aviation are no

exceptions to this. A lot of changes

and upgradations keep on occurring in this industry at frequent intervals.

6

interface

What the press has to say

INDUSTRY SPEAK

7


Event organised for Amadeus hospitality solutions

Bird Group sponsors CII’s National Conference and Annual Session 2012

Spotlight: Future of Indian Aviation

IATA Convocation ceremony held in Vadodara

Going green

This calls fora celebration!

Transcending Boundaries

Bird Retail opens Bally store in Mumbai now

World renownedSegwaytoursnow in India

Bird Automotive launches the iconic Mini Cooper in India

Bird Academy: Spreading education and hope for a better India

Bollywood’s hottest go ice skating

IATA convocation ceremony held at iSkate

WhenWinningBecomesAHabit

EventsAcross Amadeus Indian subcontinent

8

interface E V E N T S

Event organised for Amadeus hospitality solutionsAmadeus Srinagar organised an event

to showcase various hospitality solutions in collaboration with Hotel Silver Star Srinagar. A total of 40 members attended this event. An interactive session took place to brief all members of the Jammu & Kashmir Hoteliers’ club association about various hospitality solutions offered by 1A.

Mr. Sandeep Saxena and Mr. Muzim Karim from HBG were responsible for organising this event on behalf of Amadeus India. Presentations were made to discuss key challenges that the hospitality industry is facing in order to maximise customer satisfaction and profitability through revenue management.

Over 1000 industry members and non-members, especially decision makers from the Indian industry, administrators and experts attended CII’s National Conference and Annual Session 2012 held on 17-18 April at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. The National Conference took place on the theme - ‘Industry’s Role in National Building:Government-Industry Partnership’ and focused on issues that would help create an environment where industry can play an important role in nation building.

Bird Group marked its presence as a corporate sponsor for this event and had participation by Mrs. Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group. The conference was inaugurated by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, and brought together Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, key policy makers, strategic thinkers, corporates and media under one roof.

Bird Group sponsors CII’s National Conference and Annual Session 2012

9


IATA Course Convocation ceremony was organised on Wednesday, 20 June’12 for the

IATA GDS Fares & Ticketing, IATA/UFTAA Foundation & IATA/UFTAA Consultant students who cleared their IATA exams (Mar’12) with flying colours from Vadodara.

The certificates were handed over to 20 students by Ms. Meenakshi Jani, Manager -Business Development, Gujarat who congratulated the students for achieving outstanding results and making everyone proud. A special token of appreciation was

Going greenThis time again India’s leading news network NDTV launched

the much-awaited Television campaign Greenathon 4. After completing three successful years of association with NDTV for this cause, this year also Bird Group supported NDTV with its call center services. The company logo was flashed in all promos and campaigns run during this campaign. The finale of Greenathon 4 was aired live on May 20th 2012 from 9am to 9 pm on all the channels of NDTV Network. Brand Ambassador Priyanka Chopra launched the campaign on the banks of Yamuna River in Agra. The campaign was also supported by TERI and Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India.

IATA Convocation ceremony held in Vadodaraalso given to Mr.Biren Shah who was awarded the “Best Performer” recognition for his outstanding performance in IATA GDS Fares & Ticketing Course-Amadeus (Mar’12 exam) by IATA.

The students were thankful to their faculty, Ms.Aishani Patel for putting in all her efforts and bringing out the best in them. They were very proud to be associated with Bird Academy & Amadeus for providing a platform where they could gain the much needed knowledge in the field of Travel & Tourism.

E V E N T S

Spotlight: Future of Indian Aviation

An interactive session was organized by CII on ‘Building the future of Indian Aviation on 25th July, 2012 at The Leela Palace, New Delhi.

Bird Group/ Amadeus India was the exclusive sponsor of this event. Mr. Ankur Bhatia, Member CII National Committee on Civil Aviation & Executive Director, Bird Group in his opening remarks hoped applauded the role played by CII in not only highlighting the crucial issues impeding the growth but also in promoting India as an attractive investment destination. The session was attended by stakeholders from the civil aviation sector, hospitality industry and a host of government & research agencies.

10

interface

Bird Retail opens Bally store in Mumbai nowBird Retail unveiled its first Bally store in Mumbai at the Palladium

Mall on 23rd May 2012. Mr. Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group, was present at the launch.

BirdGroup had launched India’s first Bally store in New Delhi in 2011 at DLF Emporio Mall. Bally, the Swiss heritage luxury leather goods brand entered the Indian market after forming a strong strategic partnership with Bird Group. Housed at the newest luxury destination in Mumbai at the Palladium Mall, the Bally showroom is spread over 1300sq ft. The new store was launched along with the Bally Spring-Summer 2012 Collection, which is the perfect combination of Swiss taste and quality and international, contemporary trends.

Transcending BoundariesBird Group participated at the Arabian Travel Mart held from the 30th – 3rd May 2012 at

Dubai International Convention Center wherein the five business verticals were showcased. Arabian Travel Market is the travel and tourism event unlocking business potential within the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. Tourism destinations from the Middle East and around the world showcase a diverse range of accommodation options, breathtaking tourism attractions and new airline routes.

Event attendees included Mr. Umesh Nair, Ms. Priya Bhide & Ms.Swati Bhatia from Bird Group. Mr.Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group was also present during this exhibition.

This calls for a celebration!Mr. Ankur Bhatia, Director, Amadeus India,

has been bestowed upon yet another honour for his entrepreneurial vision and contribution towards innovation in travel technology.

Mr. Bhatia was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year (Innovation in Technology)” at the Second Annual Edition of Entrepreneur India Summit & Awards on May 18, 2012.These awards were hosted by Franchise India in association with Bloomberg UTV at The Claridges, Surajkund, New Delhi. This national summit and awards ceremony attracts India’s eminent business personalities, academicians and new-age entrepreneurs who have contributed extensively towards the growth of entrepreneurship in our country.

E V E N T S

11


World renowned Segway tours now in IndiaBird Segway is proud to bring the world-

famous Segway India Tours to the nation’s Capital City – New Delhi. The Segway India Tours within a week of its launch gathered huge responses. As a pilot project, Segway India Tours have started the India Gate tour covering Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, ministry buildings on Rajpath and Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Segway India Tours offer you a complete experience: a great orientation, historical information, fantastic photo-ops, superb personal service from your guide, the opportunity to ride the coolest machine in the world, and more!

Bird Automotive launches the iconic Mini Cooper in IndiaBird Automotive launched its first exclusive Mini Cooper showroom in Vasant Kunj,New

Delhi. The company has introduced four variants of the Mini. The car has a very urban feel to it and oozes a modern design that packs a punch even from a performance perspective. A special pooja ceremony took place on this occasion. Later, select clients, family & friends were seen admiring the sleek looks and beautiful interiors of the Mini cars displayed

IATA course convocation ceremony was organized on 02nd May 2012 for the first IATA GDS Fares & Ticketing batch from Ahmedabad. The students cleared their IATA exams in Dec 2011. These students were awarded the IATA certificate by Ms. Meenakshi Jani and Mr.Niket Zala. They congratulated the students for achieving outstanding results and making everyone proud.

Students were also informed about other courses offered by Bird Academy which could be undertaken by them to expand their knowledge in the travel field, after which the students were asked to share their experiences & their future plans. The students felt proud to be associated with Bird Academy & were very thankful to their faculty with special thanks to Mr. Niket Zala for putting in all his efforts.

Bird Academy: Spreading education and hope for a better India

E V E N T S

12

interface

Bollywood starlets Arjun Kapoor & Parineeti Chopra of the Ishqzaade fame seen here with Mr. Ankur Bhatia and Mrs. Smriti Bhatia.

Bollywood Stars Emraan Hashmi, Isha Gupta along with director Mahesh Bhatt, Kunal Deshmukh and Randeep Hooda were present at iSKATE to promote their movie Jannat 2.

Seen here in the picture are bollywood actors promoting their movie in a super cool style at iSKATE. Adult comedy ‘Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum’ is directed by Sachin Yardi and released on 13th July worldwide. The movie features Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Neha Sharma and Sarah Jane Dias. The film is a sequel to the 2005 superhit hit comedy,

‘Kyaa Kool Hai Hum’.

Fashion show at iSKATEThe first ever fashion show on ice in

India took place on 29th May, 2012 at iSKATE as part of the movie promotions for Bollywood flick “Rowdy Rathore”. Bollywood Stars Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Prabhu Deva and rest of the Rowdy Rathore team walked the ramp alongside models wearing clothes designed by Bani Khurana. The fashion show was followed by an informal session with media.

A parallel Amadeus contest was also run for travel agents during these promotions. Winners of this contest were also present there at the venue alongside media, fans, clients and the general public.

Bollywood’s Hottest Go Ice Skating

E V E N T S

13


Meet the Stars @ iSKATEBird Group/Amadeus India hosted a press

conference as part of the movie promotions for “Cocktail” at iSKATE. The film is directed by Homi Adajania, of ‘Being Cyrus’ fame. This was the third time that Saif and Deepika were seen together in a film, after ‘Love Aaj Kal’ and ‘Aarakshan’.Bollywood Starlet Deepika Padukone and Director Homi Adajania were present at iSKATE to have an informal session with the media. The stars happily gave away their autographs to the fans present and later were joined by Mr. Ankur Bhatia.

A parallel contest was also run on Facebook “Meet the Stars@iSKATE where fans posted pictures of their best buddies and had to complete the slogan My Friends & I Love iSKATE because…..Thousands of entries were received for

this slogan writing competition which was a huge success. Winners of this contest were present there at the venue and had the opportunity to get clicked with Deepika Padukone.

Ferrari Ki Sawari @ iSKATEBird Group/Amadeus India hosted a press

conference as part of the movie promotions for”Ferrari Ki Sawari” at iSKATE. The film is written and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.Ferrari Ki Sawari” is Sharman Joshi’s first solo hero film and has no female lead. Bollywood Stars Boman Irani and Sharman Joshi were present at iSKATE to have an informal session with the media.

The stars happily gave away their autographs to the fans present and later were joined by Mr. Ankur Bhatia.

E V E N T S

14

interface

Bird Academy organized the IATA convocation ceremony on the 18th of July at iSKATE, for its students who had recently cleared the IATA certified courses. Mr P S Nair, CEO - Corporate Airports, GMR Group who was the Chief Guest at this event gave a congratulatory speech on the occasion. Mrs. Radha Bhatia, Chairperson ,Bird Group had an open house session with the students. Also present at the award ceremony were Ms Kumkum Bhatia,

When Winning Becomes A HabitMr. Ankur Bhatia has been honoured with “Entrepreneur of the

Year – Travel Technology” award in recognition for his valuable and outstanding contribution to the travel industry at the Brands Academy Entrepreneurship Excellence Awards 2012. These awards were presented to significant individuals in various business fields, whose excellent performance in all areas has made significant contributions towards society.

The award ceremony took place on Saturday, July 07, 2012 at Four Points by Sheraton in Navi Mumbai. Mr. Rajiv Bhatia, Senior Vice President, Amadeus India was present on this occasion to receive the award on behalf of Mr. Bhatia. BIG Research and Brands Academy are India’s premier brand management consultancies providing expertise and services to a diverse set of organisation’s from all around the world for over 10 years now.

CEO- Gitanjali Travels, Mr Gurjit Gill, Regional Training Business Development Manager- IATA, Dr. T V Narayanan, HOD-Bird Academy and other faculty members. The students were very thankful to their faculty for putting in efforts and bringing out the best in them. They were very proud to be associated with Bird Academy & Amadeus for providing a platform where they could gain the much needed knowledge in the field of Travel & Tourism.

IATA convocation ceremony held at iSKATE

The students were very proud to be associated with Bird Academy & Amadeus for providing a platform where they could gain the much needed knowledge in the fieldofTravel&Tourism.

E V E N T S

15


Amadeus Ticket Changer (ATC)

BirdRes Hotels

Amadeus e-Travel Management

Mobile Selling Platform App for iPhone & iPad users

Amadeus OneClick

Amadeus training session organized in Chittagong and Sylhet

Amadeus practice training environment is replaced with Amadeus skilling environment

Training session organized in Coimbatore

Amadeus e-Support centre for travel agents

Product+for better efficiency

16

interface

Amadeus Ticket Changer (ATC)

Code Description

NAP Fares with No advance Purchase

NDA Fares with No Day /Time Restrictions

NMM Fares with No Minimum nor

Maximum stay requirements

NMN Fares with No Minimum stay

Requirements

NMX Fares with No No Maximum stay

Requirements

NPE Fares with No Penalty

NRF Non-refundable Fares

NR Fares with No Restrictions

PE All fares With A Penalty of 50 units

in the currency of fare filling

PE50P All fares with a 50% penalty or less

RF Refundable Fares

EU Economy Unrestricted

Expanded parameters are available with all ATC cryptic entries: FXF, FXQ, FXE and FXO as well as ATC web services.

Format: FXQ/R,*(EXPANDED PARAMETER CODE)FXQ/R,XP-(EXPANDED PARAMETER CODE)

Past date option in confirmed re-pricingThis option overrides the current reissue

date with the date specified in this option. This option used to be available only for ATC informative transactions and is now also available for ATC confirmed transactions, i.e. FXQ, and FXO, on open segments.

Format: FXO/R,15JAN11Refer HEATC

For further information please contact your nearest Amadeus Helpdesk toll free number 1800 111 200 or [email protected]

Expanded parametersExpanded parameters restrict which fares

can be selected during the re-pricing. Several codes are available and allow specifying the type of fares that should be selected:

interface PRODUCT +

17


BirdRes HotelsBe it a hotel reservation in a 3 star hotel

or a luxurious 5 star hotel, a holiday resort, or a therapy resort in India. We offer every type of destination through these Hotel Bookings.

Come and explore the latest Hotel Bookings by selling BirdRes broad product portfolio.

Features & Benefitsl More than 6000 hotels covering 400 cities

in India.l Define your own commission & Mark up.l Use of existing Birdres creditlimits.l Making Domestic Hotel bookings from the

same interface used for selling Mobile/DTH.l Facility of recharges & bill payments, air

& rail ticket bookings, movie tickets etc.l Convenience & Faster Revenues assuredl Electronic confirmation of payments made.l Possible to recharge and make payment

online anytime and anywhere.l Choice of payment through credit limit or

credit card.l Easy and user friendly accessibility and fully

Secure.

Why BirdRes Hotel Bookingsl Low ratesl Wide choice of Hotelsl Multiple payment optionsl Round the clock customer support Transparent cancellation & refund policiesl Define your own mark up

We value every opportunity to be associated with you.

For further information, call us on +91 11 4609 2654 or reach us at [email protected] or visit www.birdres.com

PRODUCT +

18

interface P R O D U C T +

Amadeus e-Travel Management (AETM) Control your corporate programme/ policy implementation

Global automation of processes:l Wizard-driven online site administrationl Global automation thanks to PNR custo-

mization via “Command Builder” modulel Ability to Clone any existing community to

further speed-up roll outl Flexible site hierarchy

Corporate travel policy compliance:l Policy enginel Multi-level and multi-channel travel

request approvall Online and offline convergencel Mobile approvall Reports run on periodic basis with results

automatically emailed within the corporation

Choice of your travel, technology and content suppliers

Provider choice flexibility:l More than 500 airlines connected directly

to Amadeus (or depending on the GDS used) + more than 80 Low Cost Carriers

Customised integration:l Seamless integration between HR. Expense

Finance and Travel management companies systems Off- the-shelf-integration

l Integrated with corporations preferred expense management solution (SAR Concur)

Care for your travellers & environment

Traveller care:l Flexible user-friendly interfacel Automated ticket changingl Extended with Amadeus Mobile Partner

environmental cartl CO2 impact calculator and reporter

Content sourcing management, searching and booking

Availability of COS and external content:l Search for and book air, rail, hotell Fast integration of local content through

the Integrated Partners Programl Ancillary services on Air and on Rail (for Swedish Rail)l e-Oirect Connect for Cars, allowing direct

connection to car rental providersl On Request Hotel Catalogue

Advanced search tools:l Single View display available for air & rail

content (Swedish Rail); one way containable fares

A proven track recordl Enables data security and reliability with

fulry owned data centerl PCI OSS certificationl Over 4,500 companies use AeTM worldwide

For further Information contact your nearest Amadeus Helpdesk toll free number 1800 111 200 or [email protected]

interface PRODUCT +

19

G L O B A L N E W Sinterface PRODUCT +

Mobile Selling Platform App is a service that now allows travel agents the facility to access Amadeus Selling Platform on their iPhone & iPad devices.

Travel Agents simply need to enter the Amadeus entry to access a wealth of real-time information on the Amadeus Selling Platform. All this without the need to have the Amadeus Selling Platform installed on your phone.

Using regular Amadeus entries you can perform all Availability, Bookings, Fare and even Ticketing. You can now access your Amadeus office id from anywhere and anytime.

Key featurel Designed for B2B world of travel consultants

familiar with Amadeus entries

l Allows travel agents to retain customers by providing all services of flight changes due to delay

l Boosts sales & productivity as Amadeus booking & ticketing is possible through the access of Amadeus Selling Platform

l All this on agents own Amadeus official Id

l Provides the possibility to access commands performed in the past

l Travel Agents can send email of the trip to the Customers

l Fosters Customer Loyalty

l Travel Agents can cater to the customer needs immediately without calling anyone (saves on multiple call costs & effort)

l Travel Agents have access to Customer Profiles on Amadeus. Also can sell Travel Insurance & Hotels

Its time you get the latest Mobile Selling Platform app on your device!

To get in touch, call us on +91 11 4133 6600. Reach us at [email protected] or visit www.bis.co.in

Mobile Selling Platform App for iPhone & iPad users

20

interface

What is Amadeus OneClick?

A ‘One stop shop’ to help you quicklyfindandaccess travellers’ trips information atyourfingertips.Whetheryouarea professional travel agent or an experienced travel manager, Amadeus OneClick can bring you even closer to your travellers no matter where they are travelling to.

Interactive traveller trackingAmadeus OneClick allows you to easily

locate and obtain traveller information from a central portal - a dynamic calendar search and mapbased view to show full itinerary details an clear route view display.

Comprehensive travel reportsAmadeus OneClick consolidates a wide

range of travel data into one dashboard-style reporting interface with the ability to export information to different file formats. All data is instantly available in one page.

Efficient communicatorYou can stay connected to your travelers

via Email and the two-way SMS feature from

the same platform, providing 24/7 real-time support and prompt communication.

Easy to configureAs a web-based application, Amadeus

OneClick is easy to set up with minimal configuration and maintenance free. You can simply access Amadeus OneClick anytime, anywhere.

Simple and graphical designWith its intuitive and cutting-edge user

interface, Amadeus OneClick is designed to enhance agency visibility of travellers’ itineraries. Amadeus OneClick even allows you to personalise your homepage, so you can work your own way.

interface PRODUCT +

21


Reasons to choose Amadeus OneClick for Travel Agencies/Corporations

Shorten your process of finding traveler information, from conventional selling platform to interactive online tool

Enhance your productivity of finding traveler information, from conventional selling platform to interactive online tool

Promote your customer relationship by

adding ‘personal touch’ in your servicesIncrease your revenue through reseller

channel and service fee strategyPromote duty of care within your officefor

better staff well-beingImprove your internal communication with

your employee via Email and SMS

PRODUCT +

22

interface

Amadeus Training session organized in Chittagong and Sylhet

A week’s training session of Amadeus basic and ticketing was organized for TRIP GO TRIP.COM. The training was facilitated locally by Mr Kalyan Raman from Coimbatore. Total

PRODUCT +

GTD Bangla Pvt Ltd, Bangladesh organized eight days onsite training program for Chittagong and Sylhet agents. The objective of the session was creating awareness about the new entries and products for new users. The young batch of enthusiastic

students explored new avenues of Tourism and enjoyed the session enhancing their knowledge about the importance and role of GDS in today’s travel business. The session generated a positive response and was appreciated by all agents.

Training session organised in Coimbatore20 participants were trained. The feedback received was very positive as they rated the session as an eye opener helping them to serve their clients better.

23


We are pleased to announce that Amadeus Skilling System is replacing Practice Training to become the sole dedicated training environment. Hence, it’s not possible to accidentally change data in Production. The added benefits of the migration to Amadeus Training are increased security and the ability to deliver training on all Amadeus products. We can access the same by browser http://training.amadeusvista.com or http://training.1a.amadeusvista.com

For more valuable information, please contact your nearest Amadeus office.

We take immense pleasure in presenting you state of the art self-sufficiency tool and knowledge base access for instant results at the click of the mouse. The launch of Amadeus E-Support for our subscribers is another milestone for Amadeus towards reaching our goal of maximum user satisfaction. It is an online self-paced, self-help search just like Google search at no extra cost.

No separate Log-ins credentials needed, just click on the smart tab on your Amadeus Selling Platform. You can search the resolution to the error message received or system response by specifying Error Message in the Search Box.

For more valuable information, please contact your nearest Amadeus office.

Amadeus Practice Training Environment is replaced with Amadeus Skilling Environment

Amadeus e-Support Centre for Travel Agents

PRODUCT +

25


China Southern Airlines enjoys Interactive Seat Map

Five Forty Aviation enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

Israir Airlines enjoys Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

Aircompany Khors enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

Germania enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

Syphax Airlines enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

Singapore Airlines successfully migrates to Amadeus’ Altéa CMS

JetairflyenjoysAmadeusAccessSell

Eritren Airlines enjoys Amadeus Access Sell, Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

Eurolot enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

Nature Air enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

DeltaAirlinesenjoysoperationalflight information

Joint Promotion

ProvidersAirline news & Joint promotions

26

interface

China Southern Airlines enjoys Interactive Seat Map

We are pleased to announce that China Southern Airlines (CZ) has been successfully implemented on Interactive seat Map.

Interactive seat map provides with up-to-date displays in a common amadeus format. For more information please refer to GGPCACZ.

Five Forty Aviation enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

We are pleased to announce that Five fourty Aviation (5H) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCA5H.

Israir Airlines enjoys Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

We are pleased to announce that Israir airlines(6H) has been successfully implemented on Interactive advanced seat reservation and Interactive seat Map .

Interactive advance seat reservation immediately confirms or rejects the seat number(s) reserved. Interactive seat map provides with up-to-date displays in a common

amadeus format. For more information please refer to GGPC6H.

Aircompany Khors enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

We are pleased to announce that Aircompany Khors (KO) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCAKO.

Germania enjoys Amadeus Access SellWe are pleased to announce that Germania

(ST) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCAST.

Syphax Airlines enjoys Amadeus Access Sell

We are pleased to announce that Syphax Airlines (FS) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCAFS.

Singapore Airlines successfully migrates to Amadeus’ Altéa CMS

Singapore Airlines (SQ) have successfully migrated to the reservation and Inventory modules of its next-generation Altéa Customer Management System (CMS) and core components of the Amadeus e-Commerce suite.

The introduction of next generation

Airline News

PROVIDERS

27


technology systems is part of a modernization program aimed at both improving the passenger experience and enhancing operational efficiency implementation. For more information please refer to GGPCASQ.

Jetairfly enjoys Amadeus Access Sell We are pleased to announce that Jetairfly

(TB) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCATB.

Eritren Airlines enjoys Amadeus AccessSell, Interactive Advanced Seat Reservation and Interactive Seat Map

We are pleased to announce that Eritrean Airlines (B8) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell, Interactive advanced seat reservation and Interactive seat Map.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system.

Interactive advance seat reservation immediately confirms or rejects the seat number(s) reserved. Interactive seat map provides with up-to-date displays in a common amadeus format. For more information please refer to GGPCAB8.

Eurolot enjoys Amadeus Access Sell We are pleased to announce that Eurolot(K2)

has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCAK2.

Nature Air enjoys Amadeus Access Sell We are pleased to announce that Nature

Air(5C) has been successfully implemented on Amadeus access sell.

Amadeus access sell provides immediate segment confirmation (HK) and a full secure sell reporting to the airline’s inventory system. For more information please refer to GGPCA5C.

Delta Airlines enjoys operational flight information

We are pleased to announce that Delta Airlines(DL) has been successfully implemented on operational flight information.

Amadeus operational flight information provides Amadeus end users up to date information related to the operation of a particular flight. For more information please refer to GGPCADL..

Amadeus and Thai Airways held an exciting Joint Promotion for all Amadeus Agents in West India from 01st Mar’12 to 31st Mar’12.

Five lucky travel agencies who won exciting gift vouchers are:

1. Ms. Janet - Trust travels

2. Mr. Ravi Shetty - Akbar travels

3. Mr. Harshal - Hashil travels

4. Mr. Atique - Allied Aviation

5. Mr. Jay - Rowel travels -Surat

Joint Promotion

PROVIDERS

29


Amadeus and OAG launch market-leading daily airline schedule

Amadeusconfirms landmarkappointmentofHerveCouturier

Amadeus releases its latest corporate responsibility report

Amadeus recent study: Asia region leads global travel growth

Amadeus signs global partnership agreement with Akamai

Global NewsAcross the Amadeus world

30

interface

OAG, the global leader in aviation intelligence, and Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announce a new enhancement to provide best-in-class airline schedule information. Under the agreement, OAG now provides to Amadeus a daily transmission of schedule data files. OAG’s data is used globally by Amadeus-served travel management companies, travel websites, and agencies.

“Amadeus is the first global distribution system to use a daily OAG schedule feed,” said John Grant, EVP Networks of UBM Aviation, parent company of OAG. “This enables travel agents and their customers to access more accurate information when they’re looking to book a flight – a major competitive advantage for any global distribution system.”

The OAG database contains schedules for over 1,000 airlines and over 4,000 airports. The database tracks over 28 million departures a year ahead. This data is updated continuously,

and OAG processes up to 50,000 airline schedule-change messages per day.

“Airlines change their flight schedules to enhance margins, meet market demand, and seize competitive advantage and it is key that this information is made available quickly to travel agencies,” said David Doctor, Director Distribution Marketing, Amadeus. “With this new agreement, we can ensure that, for airlines which file their information in OAG, schedule changes are processed and new flights proposed for sale, immediately on the day.”

Approximately one third of the flight schedules in the Amadeus system are based on OAG´s data. Airlines can also update their schedules directly in the Amadeus system.

Amadeus and OAG LAUNCH MARKET-LEADING DAILY AIRLINE SCHEDULE

Approximately one third of the flight schedules in the Amadeus system are based on OAG´s data. Airlines can also update their schedules directly in the Amadeus system.

GLOBAL NEWS

31


Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the appointment of ex-SAP Executive Vice President Hervé Couturier as Executive Vice President of Development.

Couturier, who brings with him some 25 years of international software development experience gleaned from previous high-profile roles at SAP, IBM and Business Objects, will head up Amadeus’ 4,500+ strong software development organisation across its 15 different sites worldwide.

At the same time, Jean-Paul Hamon is now set to retire after more than two decades in the role of Head of Development at Amadeus.

Hervé Couturier, Executive Vice President of Development says: “I am delighted to be joining Amadeus and my challenge is to continue to push the boundaries of innovation whilst maintaining Amadeus’ position of technology leadership and customer driven innovation and excellence; both of which are key drivers for Amadeus’ continued success”.

Luis Maroto, CEO and President, Amadeus says: “Hervé has a strong understanding of software development, including product strategy, planning and delivery; coupled with an incredibly successful track record in integrating new businesses and managing t h e e x p a n s i o n o f c o m p l e x s o l u t i o n portfolios. I am delighted to welcome him to Amadeus and I look forward to working closely with him”.

Maroto continues: “At the same time I would also like to place on record my sincere gratitude and thanks to Jean-Paul for the fantastic role he has performed for the past two decades as Head of Development at Amadeus. Jean-Paul oversaw many ‘firsts’ at Amadeus globally and he has made an instrumental contribution to our current standing in the world. We wish him a long and happy retirement”.

In 2011 Amadeus was listed as the number one R&D investor in Europe for

computer services and travel & tourism sectors by the European Commission. The 2011 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, an annual report published by the EC, examined the largest 1,000 European companies investing in R&D during 2010 and ranked them according to the total amount invested. In 2011, Amadeus invested in excess of €340 million representing around 12.7% of consolidated revenues. Innovation is one of the drivers behind Amadeus’ progress and growth, which has allowed the company’s technology to achieve an outstanding competitive position within the market: total investment since 2004 stands at more than €2 billion, reflecting a consistent investment every year. Amadeus has fifteen R&D centres around the world (Nice, London, Sydney, Antwerp, Aachen, Frankfurt, Boston, Miami, Toronto, Strasbourg, Tucson, Bangalore, Bogota, Warsaw and Bangkok), which currently house a team of over 4,500 people.

Hervé Couturier joined Amadeus on May 1st, 2012 and has officially assumed responsibilities from Jean-Paul Hamon on July 2nd 2012 following the conclusion of this well-planned handover period.

Amadeus Confirms LANDMARK APPOINTMENT OF HERVÉ COUTURIER

Couturier, formerly Executive Vice

President of SAP’s Technology

Group, becomes Executive Vice

President of Development at

Amadeus, whilst Jean-Paul Hamon

is set to retire after 20 years in

the role.

Amadeus is a major investor in technology R&D with€2billioninvested since

2004

GLOBAL NEWS

32

interface

Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today published its Corporate Responsibility Report highlighting the company’s performance on Corporate Responsibility issues across the Amadeus Group in 195 countries over the past year.

The company’s commitment to sustained investment in innovation and the value placed on Amadeus’ staff is reflected in this extensive document –as is Amadeus’ strategy to proactively promote projects that make a real contribution to communities and to the environment. The latest Amadeus Corporate Responsibility Report also highlights Amadeus’ activities with 165 projects in 45 countries. Areas covered include education (language and tourism skills training, PC donations, expansion of the Amadeus Tourism Observatory ), technology transfer to support business development in the tourism industry (by helping small, emerging entrepreneurs adopt professional processes in their businesses, broadening their commercial reach), local community initiatives and crisis relief.

Here are some figures highlighting the company’s Corporate Responsibility efforts in the past year:• Amadeus around the world is supported by

a diverse team that includes 123 different nationalities.

• Employees received 155,057 hours of classroom training in 2011, with 6. 3 million euros invested in training.

• Amadeus processes an average of 1 million + bookings per day. 463 million bookings were processed and 439 million passengers were boarded in 2011.

• R&D investment since 2004 totals more than two billion euros (344 million euros in 2011). The 2011 European Union Industrial Research and Development Investment Scorecard highlighted Amadeus as one of the leading companies in Europe for investment in R&D.

• There are 16 R&D centres around the world

Amadeus Releases ITS LATEST CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

and a team of more than 4,000 people enhancing the company’s value proposition for customers worldwide.

• There are Corporate Responsibility initiatives in 45 countries (nearly twice as many as in 2009).

• There are close to 800 Amadeus corporate volunteers (four times as many as in the previous year)

• More than 17,470 working hours were granted by Amadeus volunteers to support community initiatives.

• A network of 90 Amadeus Corporate

GLOBAL NEWS

Amadeus processes an average of 1 million + bookings per day. 463 million bookings were processed and 439 million passengers were boarded in 2011.

33


Responsibility specialists leads local, regional and global projects worldwide.

• On environmental matters, Amadeus continued its commitment to optimise operational performance and improved the energy efficiency per transaction processed by 8%. In addition, electricity consumption per employee was reduced for the second consecutive year.

• Despite increased business operations, Amadeus reduced its overall CO2 emissions by more than 5% in 2011, due both to improved energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy in the company’s largest sites.Amadeus subscribed to the Global Code

of Ethics for Tourism, thus pledging to uphold, promote and implement the values of responsible and sustainable tourism development. The Code, adopted in 1999 by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation

GLOBAL NEWS

(UNWTO) General Assembly and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2001, is a set of principles designed to guide the development of tourism in a way that maximises the socio-economic benefits of the sector, whilst minimising negative impacts.

Crisis relief has also received increased support from Amadeus. The initiatives developed during 2011 include Corporate Responsibility activities aimed at reducing the effects on the population of natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti [see more details at Amadeus in Haiti short video], floods in Bangkok and Australia, the Japanese Tsunami and Sendai earthquake, the typhoon in the Philippines and the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

“At Amadeus we believe our expertise in the travel industry combined with our staff’s motivation to make a difference provides a perfect platform to improve our environmental performance and support the communities in which we operate,” says Tomás López Fernebrand, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. “This is a mission where every effort is needed and welcomed. We are committed to further promote and facilitate this kind of initiative.”

The Amadeus Corporate Responsibility Report follows the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Guidelines which set a framework for organisations to disclose their economic, environmental, and social performance, in a transparent manner. GRI awarded the Amadeus latest CR report the highest possible grade (A+).

“I am satisfied to see that resulting figures confirm that during 2011 we were able to increase and strengthen our cooperation in Corporate Responsibility projects with various stakeholders such as airlines. A clear example of this is our close collaboration with carriers such as Iberia, AviancaTaca, Kenya Airways or Turkish Airlines, “ comments Svend Leirvaag, Vice President, Industry Affairs, Amadeus. “Education is clearly one of the key drivers to make this support more efficient and durable –therefore we have also highly reinforced our projects in this area. At the same time we remained focused on improving our environmental performance and our cooperation with industry stakeholders.”

For more information on Amadeus’ Corporate Responsibility programme and to view the interactive Amadeus Corporate Responsibility Report, please visit www.amadeus.com/amadeus/travelfurther.

On environmentalmatters,

Amadeus continued its commitment

to optimise operational

performance and improved the

energy efficiency per transaction

processed by 8%. In addition,

electricity consumption per employee was reduced

for the second consecutive year.

34

interface

Asia leads the world’s growth in travel and holds seven out of the ten busiest inter-city routes. In addition to the BRIC markets, Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile showed an impressive growth, according to analysis by the market intelligence solution Amadeus Total Demand. The review looks at trends in worldwide passenger demand* between regions, countries and specific airports, comparing the full 2011 passenger volumes with 2010 data**. All figures relate to passengers travelling between a given origin and final destination airport, irrespective of the number of connecting stops.

The most important inter-regional growth patterns of last year are led by Asia. Traffic between Asia and Europe, and between Asia and North America, grew by 9%. Traffic between Asia and the Middle East grew 6% reaching 38 million travellers in the year. Compared with the previous year, 2% fewer passengers travelled between Africa and Europe in 2011; this was the only region pair with a significant traffic flow decrease over the period.

Traff ic between North America and Europe remains the busiest inter-regional flow with over 60 million passengers in 2011, followed by Asia and Europe with over 53 million, and Latin America and North America with 47 million passengers.

In terms of connecting t r a f f i c , o v e r 5 0 % o f a l l passengers in the triangle between Asia, Europe and North America change aircraft at least once. On the other hand, only 7% of all passengers travelling within Asia travel with a connect ing f l ight , compared to 10% in Europe

Amadeus recent study: ASIAREGIONLEADSGLOBALTRAVELGROWTH

and 31% in North America. The largest airports in Asia have a lower percentage of connecting traffic than the North American and European hubs. The average connecting rate of the ten busiest airports in Asia is 19% compared with 32% for the top ten hubs in Europe and 45% in North America.

The 2011 country statistics*** reveal, unsurprisingly, that the strongest growth in absolute passengers is led by the BRIC countries. China registered an additional 19 million in 2011 than 2010, Brazil, 12 million, India 8 million and Russia 6 million. Indonesia was the 5th strongest growth market with an

Passenger demand analysis by Amadeus reveals Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile join BRIC countries as fastest growing travel markets.

GLOBAL NEWS

35


TOP WORLD INTER-CITY ROUTES

Amadeus Total Demand is able to provide detailed demand data for any origin and destination pair in the world. Data is mined from a large number of sources including commercial and government airline and airport trafficstatistics as well as major GDSs. The data is then processed by a cutting edge computing algorithm and robustly tested to ensure the highest accuracy of results.

* Passenger demand is measured in terms of Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic e.g. passengers travelling between a given origin and final destination airport, irrespective of the number of connecting stops.

** All percentages make reference to the difference between 2011 full year passenger volumes and 2010.

*** Only countries with more than 5 million inbound and outbound passengers have been taken into account.

additional 5 million passengers in 2011. Brazil (17%), India (13%) and Russia (15%)

also featured in the top ten fastest-growing countries by % growth. Chile (21%), the Philippines (15%) and Indonesia (11%) are also among the fastest growing travel markets. Egypt and Japan are among the fastest shrinking markets, probably due to the Arab Spring and the Tsunami.

Countries showing highest % growth in passengers between 2010 and 2011 (excluding markets with fewer than 5 million annual passengers)

It is interesting to note that the strongest traffic in between cities takes place within the same country. From the world’s top ten inter-city routes, seven are within the domestic borders of Asian countries, out of which three are in Japan. In terms of volume, the route between Jeju and Seoul is the most important (almost 10 million passengers) followed by Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (circa 8 million passengers).

The most important inter-regional growth patterns of last

year are led byAsia.Traffic

between Asia and Europe,

and between Asia and North America, grew by9%.Trafficbetween Asia

and the Middle East grew 6%

reaching 38 million travellers

in the year.

GLOBAL NEWS

36

interface

Amadeus recently signed a global partnership agreement with Akamai, the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere, to improve the performance of all web-based services and applications used by Amadeus and its customers, including airline e-Commerce websites and Amadeus’ own suite of booking tools.

Under the terms of the agreement, Amadeus customers across all segments will be able to leverage the benefits of the Akamai Intelligent Platform™, which provides route, protocol and application layer optimisations for the internet in order to deliver content and applications more quickly, reliably, and securely.

The partnership between Amadeus and Akamai was trialled through test scenarios for five Amadeus customers from 28 countries worldwide. As part of the pilot for airline e-Commerce customers in particular, one large network carrier’s home-page response time performed 3.7 times faster than before. At the same time, the response time for accessing Amadeus’ owns Flex Pricer calendar via the Amadeus e-Retail engine was 3.1 times quicker than previous speeds.

Denis Lacroix, Vice President of Product Development, Sales and e-Commerce Platforms, Amadeus commented: “Improved responsiveness across all of our web-based applications and services at Amadeus essentially means increased revenues for our customers. By combining the globally distributed Akamai Intelligent Platform with our own leading technology platforms, applications and

solutions, customers can ensure the data their own customers are accessing is located closer to them, which drastically improves response times and the overall user experience.”

He continues: “Amadeus of course wants to ensure only the very best global performance for all users accessing our applications, regardless of location. Our tests prove that overall response speeds can be improved by two to three times, and in some cases up to nearly five times previous speeds. We very much look forward to offering this service to our existing customers across the Amadeus portfolio”.

“For global companies such as Amadeus, the cloud is fast becoming the application delivery channel of choice for both business to consumer and business to business services,” explained Willie M. Tejada, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise Cloud Division, Akamai. “Our solutions are designed to provide an exemplary end user experience independent of device or location. This is critical to overall service adoption and ultimate customer satisfaction.”

The massively distributed Akamai Intelligent Platform, which delivers as much as 30 percent of global Web traffic on any given day, is designed to transform the chaos of the Internet into a predictable, scalable, and secure platform for business. Akamai provides the security, scalability, and visibility customers require to more easily and cost-effectively move mission-critical applications to the cloud. Amadeus powers more than 260 websites for over 100 airlines in more than 110 countries around the world.

The partnership between Amadeus and Akamai was trialled through test scenarios forfiveAmadeuscustomers from 28 countries worldwide.

Amadeus signs globalPARTNERSHIPAGREEMENTWITHAKAMAI

GLOBAL NEWS

next generation travel & technology · next generation travel & technology. amadeus stays...

Documents