Royal Jordanian signs with Amadeus to pursue growth and modernisation

Madrid, Spain, October 21, 2009: Royal Jordanian and Amadeus, a global provider of technology and distribution solutions to the travel and tourism industry, today announce a 10 year IT partnership. Royal Jordanian will adopt the full Amadeus Altéa Customer Management and ecommerce suite of solutions. The investment will underpin Royal Jordanian’s drive for modernisation and growth in the Middle East, and through its membership of the oneworld Alliance.

Altéa will enable Royal Jordanian to manage all reservations, inventory and departure control from a single, new generation technology platform.

A shared platform that is used by many airlines, Altéa will enable easy integration with the airline’s commercial partners that use the same solution. Today, more than 60 airlines have chosen the full Altéa suite, while nearly 140 use at least one component of the solution. Among these are more than half of the oneworld member carriers. For Royal Jordanian which is also a oneworld member , the Altéa platform will facilitate its operations within the alliance, such as easier development of code share links and revenue optimisation over a network that is highly interconnected with other airlines'.

“The main focus for Royal Jordanian, following the completion of privatisation is to increase operational revenue,” said Royal Jordanian President and CEO Hussein Dabbas.

Hussein Dabbas pointed out that Royal Jordanian was awarded two world-class awards in IT : “With this background, our highly skilled staff, and a heterogeneous technology environment, our existing infrastructure is well-prepared to support the new passenger service platform.

“The decision to move to Altéa was made because we can ensure all our customer management functions are based on a future-proof platform that can deliver on our commercial priorities."

Dabbas also highlighted that: "Amadeus presence in the Middle East is invaluable. The ongoing access to Amadeus’ airline IT experts means we can work in a genuine partnership to achieve our goals."

Commenting on the agreement, Amadeus Vice President, Airline IT, Julia Sattel said: “Royal Jordanian is undertaking an impressive modernisation programme and we are delighted they have chosen Altéa to help support them.

“Our strong presence in the Middle East will allow us to work closely with the airline to help boost their revenue and profit. By facilitating the airline’s operations within the oneworld alliance, Altéa will play a key role in enabling Royal Jordanian to execute their strategy to act as a feeder in the Middle East.”

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Notes to the editors

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 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

Royal Jordanian, which is a private company, was established in 1963 as the national air carrier of Jordan. Its vision is to be the airline of choice connecting Jordan and the Levant with the world.

Royal Jordanian is located in the heart of the capital, Amman, and its flights are operated from Queen Alia International Airport. Its modern fleet of 29 aircraft covers 56 destinations on four continents. RJ is also a member of the oneworld airline alliance, alongside some of the leading carriers in the air transport industry. The company continuously reviews its plans to improve its air and ground services, broaden its route network and modernize its fleet.

For further information, please visit www.rj.com

Contact details

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