Saudi Arabian Airlines completes successful migration to Amadeus' Altéa CMS and e-Commerce solutions

Madrid, Spain, 5 May 2010: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces that Saudi Arabian Airlines has successfully migrated to the Reservation and Inventory modules of its next-generation Altéa Customer Management System (CMS) and core components of the Amadeus e-Commerce suite. Following last month’s migration, the airline has already registered a significant increase in bookings with online sales now representing over 20 per cent of total bookings which shows a healthy growth on previous figures.

The introduction of next-generation technology systems is part of a modernisation programme aimed at both improving the passenger experience and enhancing operational efficiency. In addition to placing technology at the heart of its operations and change strategies, the airline is upgrading its fleet of aircraft and has launched a scheme aimed at advancing customer services and products by using the latest customer handling techniques. The Altéa CMS replaces the Saudi Arabian Airlines’ legacy IT platform that has served the airline for the last twenty years.

Muhammad Albakri, Vice President IT, Saudi Arabian Airlines commented: “The joint Saudi Arabian Airlines and Amadeus team worked tirelessly to ensure the migration was completed successfully. The new systems provide a completely new, fully integrated IT architecture to run our operations. We have already begun to reap the rewards of our investment with booking levels rising far more quickly than usual at this time of year. By adopting the state-of-the-art e-Commerce booking and servicing engine we are able to radically improve our web presence and drive increased international growth. Following these migrations we can now deliver on our commitment to transform the traveller experience. The unique features being introduced are to better serve our customers and ease the effort of preparing their travel”

The migration marks a major milestone for Saudi Arabian Airlines. During cutover 3.2million tickets, 1.3million Passenger Name Records (PNRs) and 1.3million frequent flyer profiles were moved to the new system. The Amadeus Reservation Desktop application was installed on over 3,000 PCs at over 500 office locations worldwide and over 3,800 employees were trained on the new applications and processes. In addition, a large scale integration programme was undertaken to link Saudi Arabian Airline’s new systems to its other applications as well as to over 70 airline partners for e-Ticketing.

Julia Sattel, Vice President Airline IT, Amadeus said: “The implementation of the new systems for Saudi Arabian Airlines was an impressive achievement and is the result of a solid partnership. The switch from legacy systems to a scalable and robust IT environment has laid the foundation for Saudi Arabian Airlines’ to modernise and support its growth both within the Middle East and internationally. In one of the most dynamic regions in the world, it is vital that airlines have a technology backbone that is flexible and agile enough to meet the demands of changing commercial strategies.”

The Altéa central repository of data enables airline staff to access a common and validated client profile, with a single view of flight history and individual client preferences. This ability to understand customers from the time a reservation is made throughout their journey empowers airline’s employees – across all customer touchpoints – to deliver a consistent and responsive service to its customers.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will also benefit from Altéa’s unique community approach which allows airlines to access continuous technology development as well as moving from a fixed to a variable cost model.

Today over 140 airlines rely on at least one component of the Altea CMS and over 100 airlines use Amadeus’ e-Commerce technology to power and optimise their online sales.

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Notes to the editors

Saudi Arabian Airlines started out in 1945 with a single twin-engine DC-3 (Dakota) HZ-AAX given to King Abdul Aziz as a gift by the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was followed months later with the purchase of two more DC-3s, and these formed the nucleus of what in few years later was to become one of the world's largest airlines.

Saudi Arabian Airlines id the Kingdom’s flag carrier ad today Saudi Arabian Airlines has some one hundred and thirty-nine (139) aircrafts, including the latest and most advanced wide-bodied jets presently available: B747-400s, B747-300s, B747-100s, B777-200s, Airbus A300-600s, MD-11s and MD90s. Recent fleet renewal includes Airbus A320, A321,, and A330 with Boeing 787 on order.

It is our pleasure to share with the most important historical highlights of Saudi Arabian Airlines since its establishment until becoming one of the best airlines in the world through our home site: http://saudiairlines.com


Amadeus is the chosen technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry. The company provides distribution and technology 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).

Amadeus operates under a transaction-based business model that offers IT solutions to virtually all players in the travel industry. The Amadeus system processed more than 670 million billable travel transactions in 2009.

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 72 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

The company is majority owned by Amadeus IT Holding S.A., whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. The Amadeus group employs over 9,300 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com

Contact details

Amadeus
Corporate Communication / Corporate Marketing
tel: +34 91 582 7809
tel: +34 91 582 0202
Fax: +34 91 582 0188
e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com

Saudi Arabian Airlines
Public Relations
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 21231
Tel: +966 2 686-2589
e-mail: prinfo@saudiairlines.com,
Home Site: saudiairlines.com