Travelport GDS, one of the world’s largest global distribution system (GDS) providers, today announced a long-term agreement to provide Czech Airlines (CSA) with a wide-range of hosting services to support the airline with key activities such as bookings, ticketing and passenger check-in.
The new agreement, which was signed following a competitive tender process involving all major suppliers, represents Travelport GDS’s largest European hosting agreement to date, adding to a global portfolio of airline IT partners which already includes Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The Travelport solution for CSA will be designed to increase the efficiency of current booking, ticketing and check-in processes, as well as to reduce ongoing costs and increase revenue integrity. The new systems will further endorse CSA’s seamless integration into the SkyTeam alliance which includes other Travelport GDS airline customers amongst its members.
The core solution will be based on Travelport GDS’s proven Meridian technology and includes leading-edge solutions for global fares and pricing as well as the GDS provider’s interline e-ticketing technology. Integrated e-commerce tools, which have proven successful for other airlines, such as Travelport GDS’s Rapid Reprice tool for automatically re-pricing tickets as well as its e-Pricing® tool for low-fare shopping will also be adopted by CSA. Once implemented, the Travelport GDS hosting system will replace the 12 different sub-systems that are currently being used by the airline.
Kevin Ficco, vice president, Global IT Services, Travelport GDS, commented:
“Travelport GDS is delighted to have signed this long-term agreement with Czech Airlines who clearly recognised the high levels of efficiency our advanced and affordable technology would bring to key areas of their business operations. We very much look forward to working closely with the team at CSA over the coming months as we put the new service in place.”
Mrs. Daniela Hupáková, communications director for CSA commented:
“The new system from Travelport GDS will speed up all of our processes from booking through to passenger check-in and the results will be felt not just by our employees but will also very much enhance the overall CSA customer experience. We were very impressed by what the Travelport GDS team offered and we are very confident this new system will help us to grow our business over the coming years.”
Implementation of CSA’s Travelport GDS hosting services for reservations, ticketing and inventory services is already underway and will continue until the end of 2008 when the cutover is planned. The departure control system for check-in will be implemented in 2009 with a planned completion date of May.
About Travelport GDS
Travelport GDS is one of the world’s largest global distribution system (GDS) providers operating both the Galileo and the Worldspan brands, providing real-time travel information and booking capabilities to online and offline travel agencies in over 145 countries. It also operates Business Intelligence which provides marketing and other critical data to the industry, and includes its Shepherd Systems subsidiary; and IT Services & Software, which offers mission critical reservations, related software and services management to the world’s leading airlines. Travelport GDS is a convergence of traditional and online travel distribution services that empower airlines, travel suppliers, travel agencies, Web sites and corporations to provide informed choice to travelers on a global platform. Travelport GDS is a division of Travelport, one of the world’s largest service providers to the travel industry. More information is available at travelportgds.com.
About Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines – the largest national carrier in the new EU member countries, in terms of the number of passengers carried. In 2006, the Airline carried a record 5.5 million passengers. Since 2001, it has been a member of SkyTeam, one of the leading global airline alliances. Czech Airlines currently offers connections to 104 destinations in 44 countries worldwide. The fleet comprises 50 aircraft – ATR 42s/72s, Boeing 737s, and Airbus A310/A320/A321s. In 2007, Czech Airlines ranked second in on-time flight performance, among the 26 member airlines of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).
For the last four years, Czech Airlines has been selected as the “Best Airline Based in Central/Eastern Europe - 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007”. This title is awarded annually by the Official Airline Guide (OAG) and is based on the votes of frequent business travellers.
In 2007, the Airline also won the “Best Airline in Central Europe” award, bestowed annually by the independent British organisation Skytrax, as a part of The World Airline Awards ranking, based on the votes of millions of passengers from all over the world. In January 2006, Czech Airlines also won the “Best Airline in Eastern Europe” Award (the Annual GT Tested Awards) for a second year running. Czech Airlines was also on the shortlist of the eight best world airlines in 2005.
