GDS news from Travelport, Amadeus, Sabre, Abacus - September 2011

Product news, releases, projects and more from the global distribution systems during September 2011 - all here, in one easy read.

Most recent updates first...

Thursday 29 September 2011:

• Abacus signs distribution agreement with Virgin Australia. The "preferred distribution partner" deal gives Abacus-connected agents access to full content on Virgin Australia fares and inventory as well as the carrier's interline and code share sister Singapore Airlines.
• Agentstream network gets deals, brochures and ratings buttons
• Travelport extends vote deadline on loan acceptance or rejection

• Sabre Travel Network admits "subset" of agency customers received "intermittent errors" from one of its systems on Friday 23 September. The problem was resolved on the same day, an official says.
• TripPlan travel management system launched by Abacus for business travellers in Asia-Pacific. The tool integrates with the GDS's existing SmartPrice and FareX services to give agents and users control over travel arrangements through any device.
• Abacus signs partnership deal with Thai Airways. The airline will be using the Abacus Direct Connect Availability (DCA) system to provide journey data, married segment and PNR syncs to connected agents. Thai Airways will also have the power to manage point of sale (POS) quota allocations and control queries received through the Abacus system, including flexibility over inventory.
• Travelport saga — Is private equity a savior or villain in travel?
• Why saying a hotel is non-GDS is a complete nonsense

• Stout Street Hospitality extends distribution agreement with Sabre Hospitality Solutions. Sabre's SynXis Central Reservation System will provide Stout Street (formerly Magnolia Hotels) with connections to all distribution channels including the global distribution systems and online travel websites.
• Amadeus in major restructuring, creates three new units, two top execs leaving
• Travelport moves to extend debt repayment to 2016, but parent could face Chapter 11

• Abacus and Transaero sign partnership agreement to extend the airline's distribution into Asia-Pacific region. Abacus-connected agents will have access to Transaero's flights and follows a similar deal with Scat Air in Kazakhstan.
• TripCase adds new tools with release of v2.5 of its platform. The Sabre-run mobile trip management system now includes drive times and traffic alerts, expense tracking, additional flight management tools and ability to combine different trip segments.
• Travelport wins latest battle to preserve American Airlines tickets on Orbitz
• Why do technology people want to get into travel when there is so little money in it?

• Amadeus showing off its credentials with low cost and so-called hybrid carriers. Distribution agreements with Air Arabia, Air Mediterranee, FlyDubai, Porter Airlines, Vision Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, GermanWings, AirBerlin and Frontier Airlines have all signed distribution or technology agreements in 2011.
• American Airlines and Sabre GDS showdown delayed until at least mid-2012
• Big Data: Bringing the magic back to travel technology

• UK and Ireland managing director for Amadeus, Tim Russell, is taking a career break. Officials in Madrid say Russell the move is for personal reasons and a replacement will announced shortly.
• Travelport moves to extend debt repayment to 2016

• In early September, less than a week after ARC  processed its first EMD for an American Airlines preferred seat on behalf of a travel agency, the Sabre GDS got into the act, as well. ARC says it has been processing additional EMDs through the Sabre GDS for Air New Zealand and Frosch Travel.
• Travel technology shakedown – are APIs evil and is XML dead?

• Travelport-owned payment system eNett upgrades currency provision. The system's MasterCard virtual current account nu,bers can be be issued in US dollars within the vNett payment platform.
• Abacus and Lao Airlines sign landmark joint venture agreement. The ten-year partnership will see the launch of Lao Abacus National Marketing Company to provide a global distribution system for travel companies and agents in Laos.
• Scat Air and Abacus seal three-year distribution deal. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2011, Abacus-connected agents will have access to the Kazakhstan airline's full fares, inventory and availability.
• FairSearch asks if Google Flight Search partners will be coerced into playing
• Second major credit agency downgrades Travelport over debt worry
• Sabre to open app center to developers for agency desktop
• Tnooz-Sabre FREE webinar – Ahead of the pack: Tools for next generation travel managers

• Amadeus will provide Silversea Cruises with an automated booking service for online and offline agents in the UK. Silversea will be distributed through Amadeus Cruise as well as the Amadeus Cruise API. Amadeus now provides distribution and reservation solutions for 18 cruise lines in the UK
• Rearden Commerce has signed an agreement is to use Travelport’s Universal API to consolidatate its connections to Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan into a single web connection. The move will mean increased efficiency for the ecommerce specialist as well as enable it to redistribute IT resources to other areas of the business.

• Travelport renews technology and distribution agreement with Affinion International, the European division of the Affinion Group. The loyalty redemption platform will use the Galileo GDS to access air, hotel and car hire products as well as the e-Pricing and Rapid Reprice services from Travelport.
• American Airlines alleges Sabre organized group boycott
• Understanding payment pain points in the travel industry

• Travelport has signed an agreement enabling hotel e-commerce firm TravelClick to sell Travelport’s Headline advertising – the GDS’s display advertising that allows hotels to promote products to travel agencies on the Galileo and Worldspan systems. The deal extends Travelport’s sales efforts which have been handled in-house until now.
• Sabre Travel Network has unveiled a secure profile system enabling travel agencies using Sabre Red to access and manage customer data. Sabre Profiles aims to improve agency efficiency and customer service as well as provide additional marketing tools. The system, which replaces Stars, is available in both graphical and classic interfaces and will also in the coming months enable data sharing between the ClientBase CRM tool and GetThere.
• Abacus announced the launch of its new agency Workspace brand. The new platform is designed to reduce agent keystrokes by 40%, integrate third party applications through an open source platform, cut down on training time for agents and improve management of customer data and services.
• Amadeus makes three senior appointment in its Middle Eastern sector. Louis Arnaud moves from becomes regional business solution manager, while Lampros Brianos is the new regional market manager and Thierry Dongier moves from Amadeus in Friance to become regional sales director.
• Epic web battles: Airlines fees vs lower fares.
• Are travel shopping sites killing technical performance?
• Amadeus: Distribution needs regulation but now others should be included.
• Luggage to get social media-style status updates.

• Travelport signs agreement with Tempest Car Hire, a South African car rental service. The distribution deal puts Tempest's content into the Galileo and Apollo systems worldwide.
• Amadeus informed participants in its Brighter, Bolder, Better ideas for travel competition that voting for five People's Prizes, worth Euro 2,000 each, is invalid and the prizes will instead be awarded by a panel of judges. The grand prize winner, who will receive Euro 20,000, will be unveiled on the Ideas for Travel website by Sept 30. "There were several registered users for the competition that were possibly fake registrations. And although we have no evidence that there was any data actually copied or removed, in the interest of fairness, best practice, and as precautionary measure, the grand prize winner and five runner-ups will now be decided by the competition judges," says an official.

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