Expedia Inc. has begun processing some of
its airline bookings from European points of sale through Amadeus
rather than Worldspan, which continues to power Expedia.coms air
bookings in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Expedias
arrangement with Amadeus, previously announced, is described as the
first phase of a plan to add points of sale in Asia and the Pacific
regions in the third quarter.
The companies didnt
detail which points of sale in Europe and how many bookings are
involved.
Expedia Inc.
operates Expedia-branded sites in the U.K., France, the
Netherlands, Germany and Italy. It also has a joint venture with Voyages-SCNF.fr in France.
In Asia-Pacific
markets, Expedias holdings include Expedia.com.au in
Australia and majority control of eLong, which is based in Beijing. It plans to
launch in Japan this year.
Expedia, which has
relied exclusively on Worldspan, revealed its desire to pursue a
multiple-GDS strategy two years ago when it signed an agreement to
have Sabre handle some bookings for Expedia.com. Though it
pre-dates the Amadeus pact, that agreement has not been put into
practice.
To contact
reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].