From tall ships to managed trips: Innovations that have shaped travel

Thanks to innovation it’s now easier than ever to travel. We’ve come a long way in the last hundred years to say the least. Only 103 years ago the first commercial flight took place. Now, there are tens of thousands every day. Amadeus has also come a long way in the last 30 years. We have gone from our first PNR in 1992 to 1.3 billion passengers last year.

We are working with our stakeholders to continue this history of innovation, with our investment in R&D growing each year. In fact, Amadeus ranked as the leading R&D investor in the travel and tourism industry in the 2016 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. We process up to 1 billion transactions per day. Our distribution customers have real-time access to 95% of the world’s scheduled airlines seats, 690,000 hotels, 90 railways, and more. This is a result of our commitment to developing technology that connects the global travel community and to the talent of our people, who are the real engine that powers our innovation.

We took a look back at some of the key innovations that have transformed travel, from the invention of the wheeled suitcase to the release of the iPhone. It’s quite amazing to think how many things we take for granted today when travelling haven’t been around for that long.  I invite you to see them in this video as we celebrate 30 years of innovation, 30 years of better journeys.