Amadeus creates world’s first interline EMD link to facilitate revenue growth for aviation sector

Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, has announced the launch of the world's first interline Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) link to facilitate payment for and the delivery of ancillary services across airline partnerships and alliances.

Amadeus estimates that up to 20 per cent of air bookings made through its system are the result of interline partnerships, representing a huge opportunity for airlines to increase revenues through the sale of ancillary services via their partner carriers. EMDs remove the need for paper documents to account for the sale of ancillary services, which IATA believes will save the industry over US$0.9 billion annually.

Interline EMD processing between launch partners Finnair and Egypt Air means the carriers' customers can now buy ancillary services across interline flights, safe in the knowledge that the operating airline will know the service has been purchased. Previously, the only way the operating airline would know a customer had purchased an ancillary service such as extra baggage allowance was through a paper document provided by the traveller at the airport.

Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Middle East & North Africa, Amadeus, commented: "Ancillary services are a crucial component that could determine the success of the airline. In fact, Amadeus research estimates that ancillary services were worth over US$35 billion to airlines in 2011, contributing nearly 20 per cent of total revenues for some carriers.

"Airlines adopting the interline EMD link will undoubtedly incur tangible benefits that will directly impact their revenue growth. The initiative is testimony to Amadeus' continuous efforts to developing new and improved technology that will significantly influence the aviation sector across the globe and match the demands of the industry."

Yasser EL Ramly, VP Commercial, Egypt Air, said: "We are proud to be the pioneering airline to put into production a true interline EMD. This is clearly a landmark achievement for the industry, and we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to both Amadeus and Finnair for working together with us to make this happen.

"In addition to serving as a time-saving tool, EMD will enable our customers to gain principle and tangible benefits in terms of convenience and efficiency. It gives me great pleasure to say that we are far ahead of the IATA target date of 2013 for full application of EMD across the industry."

Fifty-six airlines have contracted Amadeus' EMD Server to enable the provision of EMDs in order to facilitate the sale of ancillary services. To date, 22 carriers have implemented Amadeus's EMD Server resulting in 4,098,842 EMDs processed during 2011 and IATA states that 47 are currently EMD compliant.