Digital transformation is igniting the spark of the travel industry

I speak on a daily basis with airlines based in Asia Pacific, Russia, Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). One collective thread is digital transformation. Airlines span from those taking the lead to those that are waiting to see what happens and many are asking us for guidance. Big data, Internet of Things, machine learning,artificial intelligence,virtual reality, and augmented reality are no longer discussed at universities alone. They are now in our daily discussions.

We believe that the industry will only flourish if we put the traveller at the centre of everything we do. Travellers have already won their place at the centre of all processes and they are more demanding than ever and this trend will only continue. Eventually all airlines will feel the heat of the changes happening at a fast pace, and they know they need to benefit from this digital revolution.

I recently had the opportunity to present our recent whitepaper Embracing airline digital transformation: a spotlight on what travellers valueto a prestigious group of aviation professionals in Russia, at ‘Wings of the Future’ held in Moscow. The report finds that for airlines the value is the sweet spot where travellers feel that the balance between product, service, and convenience is achieved. Each time a customer searches for a flight, they bring their individual values to the search and technology is the strong enabler and driver. But technology alone will not transform an airline. Many airlines are seeking to review their processes and how they approach all of their operations in a non-siloed approach to benefit from the technological advancement at a larger scale.

At Amadeus, we are best positioned to support this journey with our airline customers. Together with Navitaire, we are the technology provider of more than 200 airlines carrying 1.5 billion passengers a year, and we distribute more than 400 airlines through our distribution platform globally. Technology is in our DNA and we share the same journey with any airline that wants to be in the front line of digital revolution. Join us in this transformation journey.