Air France and KLM to jointly adopt new generation inventory solution from Amadeus

Madrid, Spain, 26 October 2009: Amadeus, a global leader in technology for the airline industry, today announces that Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have signed a ten year agreement for the implementation and operation of Amadeus Altéa Inventory by 2010. The airlines’ new inventory management solution will be fully integrated with their sales platform, Altéa Reservation.

Both airlines will replace their legacy inventory systems with a single solution that will manage their 74.5 million passengers and more than 900,000 flights per year.

Amadeus Altéa Inventory is a critical component of the Altéa Suite and has been selected by more than 70 airlines around the world. Designed from the ground up using Service Oriented Architecture and latest technology, it enables airlines to automate schedules management and re-accommodation, control availability using the most advanced revenue management techniques and offer customer centric services such as intelligent group seating – taking into consideration a customer value parameter for differentiated services.

Altéa Inventory will support Air France and KLM in their key objective of maximising revenue from a single business operating two carrier codes. The two airlines will take this opportunity to align and optimise their critical schedule management and revenue management processes, leveraging best practices from both sides.

“The transition to a combined inventory system on the industry’s leading platform is strategic for the Air France – KLM Group,” said Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France-KLM Group CEO. “Not only will we be achieving operational synergies, but also thanks to the close integration of the Amadeus Altéa suite, Air France and KLM will benefit from full data synchronisation at group level. The adoption of Altéa Inventory will dramatically improve the servicing of Air France and KLM customers travelling across our unique co-branded network.”

“In these turbulent times, every single improvement on the top line matters. Amadeus Altéa Inventory will bring us the dynamic inventory controls we need to exploit every opportunity to maximise revenue.” added Peter Hartman KLM President & CEO.

Air France was a launch partner of the Amadeus reservation system. Following the Air France KLM merger in May 2004, the migration to the Altéa Customer Management Solution Suite has been a strategic project to integrate both airlines’ critical operational processes and deliver long term competitive advantage. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines joined the Amadeus Altéa Reservation platform in April 2007, facilitating the optimisation of sales & reservation resources and code sharing between the two airlines.

“Amadeus is delighted to work with Air France and KLM on their strategic consolidation project,” said Amadeus President & CEO, David Jones. “There is no doubt that the migration to Altéa Inventory system in a couple of months will be a major achievement for both airlines, allowing them to optimise their revenues as one. It has been a very enriching process to define the best solution to match their complex needs, and Amadeus is proud to work with such demanding clients who push us to stay at the forefront of innovation.”

David Jones expressed Amadeus’ satisfaction in the renewed trust placed on the company’s capacity to deliver cutting edge IT solutions that match airlines’ most advanced requirements.

Following Air France and KLM’s decision, other airlines currently using the Air France or KLM in-house inventory systems are also joining the Amadeus platform. Kenya Airways and Martinair will also migrate from the KLM system in 2010.

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Notes to the editors

About Amadeus Altéa Suite
The Altéa Suite is an integrated customer management solution to completely transform the end-to-end customer experience and support best in class revenue management. This new generation common platform comprises three main components (Altéa Reservation, Altéa Inventory and Altéa Departure Control). The entire Altéa Suite is fully up and running and has already been selected by over 70 airlines of all sizes and from around the world.
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Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers).

In just a few years, Amadeus has become a leading airline IT provider offering a fast growing portfolio of unique new generation solutions shared by a community of over 200 airlines. The portfolio includes the Amadeus Altea Suite (new generation customer management solution), the Amadeus e-Commerce Suite and other added value solutions like Amadeus Revenue Integrity.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 219 markets.

The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs over 8,600 employees worldwide, representing 105 nationalities.

More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com
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The Air France-KLM Group was set up in 2004 and comprises a holding company and two airlines that have retained their separate brand and identity. Together, Air France and KLM serve an extensive global network structured around their hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. Currently, the group has a workforce of over 100,000, carries 74 million passengers annually to 244 destinations worldwide, and operates a fleet of over 600 aircrafts. This reflects its newfound position as the global market leader in terms of revenues, with a total revenue of 23,97 billion euros in 2008/2009. Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam Alliance, whose services span the world. Air France was founded in 1933, KLM in 1919.

Full information on Air France and KLM is available at: http://corporate.airfrance.com and http://www.klm.com.

Contact details

Amadeus
Corporate Communication / Corporate Marketing
tel: +34 91 582 0160
fax : +34 91 582 0188
e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com