Amadeus continues to register record uptake of its automated ticket change solution

• Amadeus will introduce new functionality and further roll out the solution to the travel agency market worldwide within 2008


Madrid, Spain, 12 June 2008: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, is registering a record uptake of Amadeus Ticket Changer (ATC). In the past 15 months, 30 airlines have signed up for the solution in order to fully automate their ticket change and re-issue processes, accurately collect associated additional revenues and improve the productivity of their customer service agents.

The latest airlines to deploy ATC at their sales offices are Air Berlin, Conviasa, Iberia, Icelandair, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and LTU.

Amadeus Ticket Changer completely automates the time-consuming and complicated ticket change process and can help save as much as 80% of the time required to change a ticket. It can be used to re-issue any type of ticket, domestic or international. It immediately calculates the price difference and relevant information in the currency required, enabling sales agents to instantly issue the new ticket in an efficient and secure manner. By processing fares, taxes and penalty fees in an end-to-end automated process, airlines ensure an accurate process to collect expected revenues.

Amadeus is set to roll out ATC to more airlines, as well as travel agencies, in 2008, in countries across Europe and Latin America, accompanied by an aggressive product evolution.

“Amadeus Ticket Changer confirms our commitment to providing effective technology solutions to the airline industry, helping companies to improve processes and offer better customer service, said Frédéric Spagnou, Vice-President, Airline Business Group, Amadeus. “We are very pleased with the substantial uptake in recent months, and the plans we have for 2008 demonstrate our belief in the valuable role this solution can play in the industry.”

According to Thorsten Scherzer, Vice President Distribution, for Europe’s fourth largest airline, Air Berlin: “ATC will enable us to offer an enhanced service to our customers, providing them with flexibility and a wider variety of options when rebooking their travel. One out of every ten tickets we issue are subject to a ticket change, so this is an important service issue. ATC will allow us to transform what used to be a complicated and cumbersome technical procedure into what is now a very quick and efficient sales and service process”.

In the course of 2008, Amadeus will add a number of new functions to the existing product, such as the ATC Shopper, which will offer up to 200 ticket change options to the airlines’ customers in one go, using calendar and upsell types of display. Further, ATC will be rolled out to the travel agency market in nine new markets, including UK, France, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia and Mexico. This follows the successful launch of the solution to the US travel agency market. Using ATC, travel agents can significantly improve their productivity when reissuing tickets and at the same time increase their confidence in correctly handling the process.

Amadeus Ticket Changer is completely integrated with the fares and ticketing processes in Amadeus' Altéa Customer Management Solution (CMS) and used throughout multiple distribution channels, including the online channel.

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Notes to the editors:

The airlines that have signed up for Amadeus Ticket Changer so far are: Air Astana, Air Austral, Air Berlin, Air Calin, Air Caraibes, Air France, Air Mauritius, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Cimber Air, Conviasa, Corsair, Croatia Airlines, Dragonair, Egyptair, El Al, Estonian Air, Finnair, Iberia, Icelandair, Kenya Airways, KLM, LTU, Middle East Airlines, Qantas, Skyways, South African Airways, TAP Portugal, V Australia.

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 travelers). 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 Center) 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 nearly 7,800 employees worldwide, representing 95 nationalities. More information about Amadeus is available at: www.amadeus.com.

Contact details

Amadeus Media Relations
Corporate & Marketing Communication
tel: +34 91 582 0160
e-mail: mediarelations@amadeus.com