MADRID -- Amadeus said it plans to set up a support and development
site near London's Heathrow Airport to support existing
applications and develop new-generation inventory and departure
control systems for its newest customer, British Airways.
As reported, the carrier selected Amadeus to run its
reservations, customer service and inventory and departure control
systems over the next 10 years.
British Airways was until recently a part owner of one of
Amadeus' rivals, Galileo, which operates the Apollo and Galileo
CRSs, and Galileo just bought its U.K. distributor company from
British Airways.
Amadeus, a CRS provider to some 8,400 travel agency locations,
said the BA contract "represents a significant step in broadening
its activity as a technology service provider," as well.
Detailed contract negotiations will begin now and, if
successful, are expected to conclude this summer, Amadeus said.
British Airways said its reservations and departure control
system, named BABS, has served it well since it was originally
developed in the 1960s. But the airline said it now sees advantages
to sharing basic functions with other airlines and concentrating
its own technology resources on other areas, including electronic
commerce.
The move is expected to foster electronic interaction with other
members of the oneworld airline alliance that also use Amadeus.
More than 110 airlines use the Amadeus system to run their sales
and reservations operations in airport and city ticket offices, a
"common platform concept" that affords significant benefits to
airlines operating in partnerships and alliances, Amadeus said.
By outsourcing to Amadeus, British Airways "will be able to
share a reservation and sales system and interact in a seamless way
with those members of the Oneworld alliance that are also Amadeus
system users, such as Iberia, Finnair and LanChile," Amadeus
said.
The Madrid-based CRS company said it was chosen by BA because
"its global travel distribution systems offer British Airways the
opportunity to substantially reduce operating and development costs
while delivering comprehensive functionality."
"The decision also positions British Airways to further exploit
e-commerce and other commercial distribution opportunities."