Amadeus and Thomas Cook extend partnership with global deal

Madrid, Spain, 21 March 2006: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, today announced a global agreement with Thomas Cook, the best-known name in travel. The deal adds Egypt to the list of markets where the companies work together, and extends their partnership for another four years. The agreement also covers Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Poland, UK, India and Sri Lanka.

Thomas Cook is Europe’s second-largest travel group and offers holidays to more than 1,000 destinations around the world. The company is also the largest travel agent in Egypt and, with this deal, will become Amadeus’ largest travel agency customer in the country. Egypt is a key growth market for Amadeus: according to the Egyptian Tourism Authority 8.6 million more people visited the country in 2005 than in 2004. The authority expects 10% growth for 2006 too.

EgyptAir recently signed an agreement for Amadeus Altéa Customer Management Solution, according to which the airline will outsource its reservation, inventory and departure control systems to Amadeus.

"Amadeus is the leading supplier to the world’s largest leisure groups," says Gillian Gibson, Vice President, Multinational Customer Group, Amadeus," and Thomas Cook’s decision to expand the scope of our global agreement shows how seriously we take our role as technology partner to the travel industry."


About Thomas Cook A.G.
Thomas Cook AG provides “one-stop holiday planning”: The integrated, international tourism company corporation handles all of the elements involved in providing for the needs of its customers – flights, hotels, tour operators, sales and service agents – with a reliable product in every market segment for its guests from all over the world. The company group includes 37 tour operators, more than 2,400 travel agencies worldwide, 75,000 controlled beds, a fleet of 75 aircraft, and a workforce of 24,600. The corporation operates in Germany, the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Egypt, India, and Canada.

About Amadeus
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). Solutions are grouped in four solution categories – Distribution & Content, Sales & e-Commerce, Business Management and Services & Consulting.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations in 75 countries covering more than 215 markets. The company has over 6,500 employees worldwide, representing 95 nationalities. For the six months ended 30 June 2005, Amadeus reported revenues of €1,226.1m and net income of €154.2m.

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