Convergence of Mobile and Self-Service in the Airport
SITA has published its annual survey of self-service applications in the airline and airport industries.Although some details remain to be established it is clear that self-service will dominate the passenger experience for the foreseeable future.
10/10/2011
Travelport Loan Restructuring Reflects Deeper Problems
Of all the GDS companies Travelport is the one that is most exposed to changes in the legal, technological and financial environments. The loan refinancing it has just announced will buy it a little time but that may not be enough.
30/09/2011
DOT fines Amadeus $95,000
The United States Department of Transportation has fined Amadeus for violations of its rules on the disclosure of code share information in web booking sites. The $95,000 cost of the fine is a pin prick to Amadeus, which had revenues last year of almost €1.4Bn in the first half of 2011, but this may be an indication that the DOT is flexing its muscles in its role of regulating online airline sales. Amadeus is not accused of improper actions but of failing to ensure that its customers used its tools in compliance with regulations.
The launch of Google's flight search tool a couple of days ago may have the DOT regulators on high alert given that the search engine giant has a much wider reach than a handful of small and medium sized travel agents.
16/09/2011
BA iPad Apps Use Architecture to Good Advantage
British Airways is one of many airlines to look for benefits from the current generation of consumer products. The key to success is a robust IT architecture that allows the devices to tap into data and processes in corporate systems, some of which may be thirty years old.
26/08/2011
Lufthansa To Sell Systems but not to the Obvious Buyer
Reports in Germany suggest that Lufthansa Group is looking to sell a majority interest in Lufthansa Systems. Although two potential buyers have been identified there could be quite a bit of maneuvering before the future of the business is decided.
23/08/2011
Thai Agreement Boosts Amadeus in Asia Pacific – and in Star
Another big sales win for Amadeus Altea PSS secures its leading position in the Asian market - and in Star Alliance too.
01/08/2011
Not a Shining Star in Brussels
One of the headline speakers at the SITA IT Summit was very wide of the mark when he suggested that airline IT should look like the Apple AppStore.
27/06/2011
Asia Moves Mainstream, More Consolidation in PSS
The PSS market continues to evolve, with Amadeus and Sabre making important strides. HP remains the most likely challenger to this duopoly - provided it can deliver on its commitments to American Airlines.
06/06/2011
Justice Department Opens Probe of Airline Fare Distributors
Bloomberg quotes our own Richard Clarke in this story about the antitrust investigation of the GDS industry that has been launched by the US Department of Justice. Until just a few years ago the GDSs were heavily regulated in order to prevent them favouring one airline over another. Now it seems that - in the USA at least - all the airlines are finding common cause against the distribution companies that they no longer own. The growth of online distribution and the rapid development of airline merchandising mean that the distribution environment is much more complex than it was in 1984 when the original GDS regulations were produced. If the DoJ is to do a proper job of considering new regulations it will need time and clear-headed analysis.
23/05/2011
AA’s Next Offensive – Court Action
The Distribution Wars continue as American Airlines files suit against Travelport and Orbitz in a Texas court. At stake is nothing less than the entire GDS business model as it is currently constituted.
14/04/2011
The DoJ Hands Airline MetaSearch to Google - for Now
The decision has finally been handed down and Google has got its way. The Department of Justice has imposed minimal conditions on the search giant's purchase of ITA Software. The shareholders of ITA have made a lot of money and the airline distribution business has seen a significant change.
10/04/2011
Mission Accomplished – with Time to Spare
SITA has cut Air India over to its Horizon PSS well under a year after signing contracts. Sounds easy enough when stated in such simple terms but the fact that they have achieved it confirms that SITA is the past master at difficult migrations.
04/04/2011
HP Declares its intentions for Travel
Hewlett Packard is flexing its significant muscles in the travel space. Not since the heyday of IBM and Univac in the 1970s has a general services provider made a realistic play for business in the airline and wider travel industries. With almost half of the US market in the bag HP certainly has a platform from which to build. Along with Google's intentions for ITA and a possible role for Apple somewhere down the line this represents a substantial threat to the industry specialist providers like Amadeus, Sabre and Navitaire.
29/03/2011
Amadeus Scores for 2010
Amadeus has published its financial results for 2010 and they make very good reading for its shareholders. However we are living in interesting times and there is no room for new CEO Luis Maroto to rest on his laurels.
18/03/2011
Amadeus Delivers a New Generation Self-Booking Tool
The travel industry is increasingly using powerful consumer electronic devices in preference to expensive industry-specific technology. Traveltainment's iPad application will probably be the first of many to tap the unique capabilities of Apple's must-have device.
23/02/2011
The Battle of Kazakhstan
The legal tussle between Amadeus and Air Astana could have greater consequences than anyone yet appreciates. A Spanish court has decided that Amadeus may not cease service under the GDS agreement for the time being. Amadeus will probably appeal that decision but it might want to keep the case away from European courts. Contractual disputes should be settled by arbitration and that would probably be Amadeus's preference.
18/02/2011
SITA Evolves Away from its Network Business
The recent SITA Horizon customer conference gave a clear view of the evolution of the venerable network provider. It still has much to offer the air transport industry but not necessarily in the most obvious ways.
02/02/2011
American Airlines, Sabre pause legal fight, seek accord on ticket sales
The Dallas Morning News reports that peace has broken out between American Airlines and Sabre - for the time being at least. Mutually assured destruction clearly wasn't all that attractive once it became a real possibility.
25/01/2011
UATP and SITA Combine to Benefit the Airlines
UATP and SITA are two of the oldest airline-owned businesses that exist to benefit the industry as a whole. The news that SITA will provide the entire technical infrastructure for UATP is a win-win-win for the two organisations and airlines in general.
21/01/2011
A judge agrees with AA but the fight is still on
The dispute between American and its distributors goes to court again. This will not be the last time.
17/01/2011
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