GDS news from Travelport, Amadeus, Sabre, Abacus - January 2012

Product news, releases, projects and more from the global distribution systems during January 2012 - all here, in one easy read.

Most recent updates first...

Tuesday 31 January 2012:

Unbundling is evil – there must be a better way
Virgin Australia and Sabre sign multi-year distribution agreement with Sabre. The deal gives all Sabre-connected leisure and business agents access to all Virgin Australia fares and inventory, including ancillary products. Virgin Australia has also upgraded to Sabre's AdvanceConnect system.
Travelport announces launch of service to allow booking of pre-paid bags on Cimber Sterling flights. Travelport-connected agents will be able to use the service immediately. The Danish airline operates over 1,000 flights per week and carries 2.5 million passengers a year on its domestic and European network.
Amadeus technology outage hits major airline systems and agency bookings
Tnooz-BCD Travel FREE Webinar: Getting in sync – Tools for communicating with business travelers

Monday 30 January 2012:

Amadeus calls on rail industry to adopt "shared approach" to developing IT systems. The Back On Track report by Professor James Woudhuysen argues that the rail industry has been held back by legacy IT systems and should therefore consider adopting next generation IT solutions, similar to those used by airlines. "The concept of an outsourced community platform, a shared system used by rival rail companies to manage customer processing, means rail companies would benefit from the latest technology whilst remaining free to innovate and differentiate," the reports says. "This approach would see the rail experience transformed, allowing for personalised journeys, the selling of ancillary services and multiple options for ticketing."
FairSearch blasts Google Flight Search ad model as online travel group enlists

Thursday 26 January 2012:

Amadeus signs four-year distribution agreement with Travix mega-group. The deal covers the portfolio of Travix brands such as CheapTickets, Vliegwinkel.nl, Flugladen, BudgetAir, Vayama and Easytobook. The Amadeus Extreme Search system is also included as part of agreement.
With Google, Apple and Facebook on the prowl, will hotels lose even more control of distribution?
Is it time for a global HotelWiki to assist the industry (and consumers) with hotel distribution?

Wednesday 25 January 2012:

Travelport signs major agreement with Satguru Travel & Tourism to expand operations in Africa. The partnership is said to be the largest of its kind signed by Travelport and gives it 16 new country distributor agreements across the continent, growing its existing network from 27 to 41 and extending GDS operations in a further two. National distributor centres for Travelport will run in the following countries: Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan and Togo. Existing Satguru ecommerce tools will be made available to customers as part of the deal.
North American hotel prices – January to March 2012

Monday 23 January 2012:

Amadeus signs Memorandum of Understanding with the European Commission to promote travel between Europe and South America. The agreement is part of a wider scheme to increase traffic to other regions around the world during low seasons by utilising spare airline and accommodation capacity. The programme will encourage airlines that are ready to offer fare concessions through travel agencies and tour operators that would organise relevant travel packages, as well as with the European Commission.

Saturday 21 January 2012:

Travelport has tapped Amadeus for senior executive Gilles Mascaras who joins as vice president for channel strategy and pricing. Mascaras will be responsible for identifying and prioritising markets, channels and customer groups for Travelport GDS products and services. Mascaras had a 19-year career at Amadeus and was most recently ran the global online travel agencies and large leisure travel agents group.
Priceline has successfully integrated Travelport's 360 Fares system. The global fares and pricing system powers all fares and pricing transactions for Travelport's global distribution systems.
Travelport announces three-year agreement with global IT outsourcing company Stefanini. The new partnership continues an existing agreement for Stefanini to provide Travelport with multi-lingual customer help desk services to its global distribution system and Galileo customers in Asia, alongside existing global Worldspan customers and Galileo customers in Europe.
Why the mechanics behind travel distribution will blow your mind
Travelport: IPO still a consideration, admits mistakes made with introduction of Agility
Can a global distribution system be cool?
Amadeus strengthens hotel offering via HRS distribution deal

Tuesday 17 January 2012:

Travelport and TAP Portugal agree to extend distribution agreement. The deal gives all Travelport-connected agents around the world full access to TAP's fares and classes. The pair have also agreed to work on a number of strategic projects including development of merchandising and group booking systems.
Siri the mobile travel agent [VIDEO]

Saturday 14 January 2012:

Thursday 12 January 2012: