Significant win for Travelport as it looks to shore up some of its major accounts ahead of an IPO in the coming weeks - extending an exclusive deal to power Chinese airline ticketing.
Travelport's has partnered with the only licensed GDS in the People's Republic, TravelSky, for the past 15 years and currently supplies ticketing technology through its E-Ticket Interchange product.
The renewal of the current agreement will extend the relationship for another five years and is a strong fillip for the company going into its investor roadshows for the IPO during February 2010.
TravelSky is the only GDS permitted to work with Chinese travel agencies and operates departure and ground control for carriers in the country.
The E-Ticket Interchange system plugs into the TravelSky technology to provide interline e-ticketing as well as handling tools for ground agents.
TravelSky currently processes around 200 million passengers a year through domestic 30 airlines and 200 regional and international airlines.
The business also supports 147 airports in China and around 7,000 domestic ticket agencies.