BA and Amadeus renew technology agreement with 10-year contract

Madrid, Spain, 02 June ,2008: British Airways and Amadeus today announced they were extending their existing relationship for another 10 years until 2017.

The new agreement covers the entire IT Services relationship between British Airways and Amadeus, and is the continuation of the strategic arrangement which started in 2000 between the two companies, designed to provide British Airways with a ‘new generation’ technology platform for the management of passenger services.

As a result, Amadeus, with British Airways as a launch customer, developed the Altea Customer Management Solution comprising three fully integrated modules: Altéa Reservation for distribution through British Airways’ sales outlets, Altéa Inventory for global inventory management and Altéa Departure Control for passenger check-in and flight departure management.

Today, British Airways uses the Altea Reservation and Inventory systems which work in conjunction with British Airways’ own website ba.com and Revenue Management systems.

The new agreement with Amadeus sets out the terms under which British Airways would move to the newly developed Altéa Departure Control - Customer Management system for passenger check-in, thereby completing the Altéa suite.

Further, British Airways has now also finalised the evaluation of Altea Departure Control - Flight Management for flight departure operations, in open competition with other competing products and selected the Amadeus solution. British Airways and Amadeus are now jointly engaging to scope and plan implementation of the Altéa Departure Control systems.

Paul Coby CIO of British Airways said: “I am delighted that we have been able to extend our strategic relationship with Amadeus which started in 2000. The Altea Reservation and Inventory systems have been great support for our drive to develop our sales and services to customers.”

British Airways plans to complete migration to the full Altéa suite in 2012. British Airways also currently uses Amadeus e-Ticket Server to manage its e-ticketing operations and Amadeus Flex Pricer to enhance the experience of booking connecting flight itineraries through www.ba.com.

Commenting on the agreement, David Jones, Amadeus’ Executive Vice President, Commercial said: “We are very pleased that British Airways has chosen to reconfirm their confidence in our solutions, both by extending their use of the installed systems and adding new ones to them. We look forward to the full deployment of the full Altéa platform for British Airways.”

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Notes to the editors

Amadeus
A world-leading technology and distribution solutions provider, Amadeus delivers unparalleled expertise to the travel and tourism industry, including leading-edge solutions that cover airlines’ unique business needs, independent of their size, business model or market reach.

Amadeus’ pioneering new-generation Customer Management Solution (CMS) portfolio, Amadeus Altéa CMS, serves network and regional carriers. The Altéa portfolio, based on a pioneering community platform concept, enables improved operational efficiency and increases revenue. The portfolio consists of the Altéa Reservation, Altéa Inventory and Altéa Departure Control solutions.

Low cost carriers also have a specific CMS for LCCs - based on adaptive technology and already used by carriers in Europe and the USA - that provides robust options that easily adjust to their evolving operational requirements.
Further complementing these integrated IT solutions is the Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite. Over 75 of the world’s leading airlines use the Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite to power over 250 websites in more than 80 markets.

Other standalone IT solutions include amongst others: Amadeus Revenue Integrity solution, Amadeus Ticket Changer, an automatic ticket reissue tool, and a full range of ticketing solutions; including e-ticket interlining and ground-handling management technology. More information about Amadeus’ solutions for airlines is available at: www.amadeus.com/airlines.


Press Contacts

Amadeus
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Tel.: +34 91 582 0160
Fax: +34 91 582 0188
e-mail:mediarelations@amadeus.com

British Airways
Patrick Spink, Press Office
Tel.: 0208 738 3652
e-mail: patrick.spink@ba.com