Product news, releases, projects and more from the global distribution systems during March 2011 - all here, in one easy read.
Most recent updates first...
Thursday 30 March 2011:
- Amadeus Ideas for Travel – Most popular in March [full story]
- Travelport to get back to basics after sale of content distribution business [full story]
Tuesday 29 March 2011:- Travelport will see the exit of UK, France and Ireland boss Jerome Moisan by the end of 2011. Moisan is leaving for "family reasons" after moving to the UK in 2009 and spearheading the launch of Travelport Opinions. President and MD for Europe and Brazil, Jason Clarke, says he is "very disappointed" to see Moisan go but confirmed a succession plan is in place.
Monday 28 March 2011:- Travelport signs multi-year agreement with Travel Solutions to distribute Worldspan services in Pakistan. Travel Solutions (formally Galileo Pakistan before being spun off) will provide Worldspan GDS services to agencies throughout Pakistan. The company also distributes Galileo and Worldspan in Uzbekistan and Galileo in Afghanistan.
Friday 25 March 2011:- The Airport of Tomorrow report is published by Amadeus and Travel Tech Consulting. The study examines the future role of airports and how areas such as check-in, baggage and RFID will evolve. Download the report.
- Amadeus signs worldwide content distribution agreement with Singapore Airlines. The deal provides Amadeus agency customers with access to airline's schedules, fares and inventor for five years.
- Travelport Opinions? Sabre Agentstream? Amadeus mulls collaboration community [full story]
- Travelport social network pushes open enrollment [full story]
- Hogg Robinson Group agrees to use Travelport technology to access low cost carriers [full story]
Tuesday 22 March 2011:- Travelport renews distribution agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines. The multi-year agreement sees Galileo and Worldspan-connected agents will have access to the carrier's fares on 80 domestic and international routes.
- How rail is evolving and why travel websites need to be ready [full story]
Sunday 20 March 2011:- Travelport opens up Travel GPA system to agency customers in North America. Travel GPA is a global benchmarking database, giving agencies an analytics and reporting service to improve travel program and policy performance.
- Sabre investigates major SynXis outage [full story]
Wednesday 16 March 2011:- High praise for Sabre Holding's CEO Sam Gilliland after being selected by US president Barack Obama to sit on a board of top executives known as the President's Management Council. Gilliland already advises the US government on topics such as air traffic control, tourism policy, airport security and environmental issues.
Tuesday 15 March 2011:- Amadeus and ConTGo sign reselling pact for mobile services. Amadeus will become an official and global reseller of all ConTGo mobile products as well as enhancing the roll-out of the Amadeus Mobile Travel Assistant to travel management companies and corporations.
- The importance of mobile in the minds of business travellers [full story]
Monday 14 March 2011:- Amadeus and Air Astana reach long-term distribution agreement. Running until 2014, the deal gives Amadeus-connected agents access to Air Astana content and ends a protracted and high-profile stand-off between the pair over distribution costs and strategy.
- Travelport plots trebling of hotels on agent portal, thanks to Sprice [full story]
Wednesday 9 March 2011:- GTA by Travelport signs partnership with African hotel chain Protea. The 120+ hotels in the group will be available on the GTA platform to connected partners.
- GetThere extends agreement with General Electric. The multi-year partnership will see the Sabre-owned system pushed to 75,000 members of staff in 40 countries.
- TripCase is not just for apps anymore [full story]
- Sabre debuts social networking site for travel agents in Germany [full story]
Tuesday 8 March 2011- Pegasus Solutions entered into a referral relationship with Travelport, enabling Utell Hotels & Resorts and Utell Connect members to advertise in Travelport Featured Property, Galileo Headlines and Worldspan Accents.
Friday 4 March 2011:- US Airways in press release spat with partner Sabre [full story]
- Lipstick on a pig – The challenge with activities distribution [full story]
Wednesday 2 March 2011:- Travelport signs deal with TACA Airlines to use the Travelport Rapid Reprice technology. The partnership gives travel and reservation agents access to the airline's fairs and availability, including the ability to recalculate ticket prices based on taxes, refunds, penalties and admin fees.
- Sabre, Travelocity to get US Airways Choice Seats [full story]
- Amadeus enables travel agency settlement of airline ancillary services [full story]
Previous GDS updates: