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Amadeus’ first quarter profit rises and claims its growth is “guaranteed”
TransportSpain-based travel bookings company Amadeus expects revenue growth to pick up in the second half of the year, while the contribution of its U.S. and Asian units to the group should increase, its financial director said on Wednesday. Amadeus will continue to win business from rivals this year after its share of travel agency airline [...]
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Airlines need to become better digital retailers, and their own sites are best weapons
TransportThere is a constant push and pull between airlines saying the GDS cannot support ancillaries and GDSs saying they can. A more accurate judgment may be that GDSs generally do accommodate ancillaries but in a clunky and limited fashion. Full-service airlines are increasingly adopting LCC elements, with demands for GDSs to support ancillaries. Even the [...]
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Blackstone and Travelport had a tough year doing business in Iran
TransportIt was a tough year doing business in Iran for Travelport and TRW, both affiliates of The Blackstone Group. Travelport enables travel agents to sell flight tickets for — and provides e-ticketing services to – Iran Air, the Iranian flag carrier and an airline that has been tied to support activities for Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad. [...]
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American Airlines wants antitrust case with Travelport resolved in a hurry
TransportAmerican Airlines says Travelport Ltd. shouldn’t be allowed to delay a fast-approaching antitrust trial in which “billions of dollars” are potentially on the line. Travelport, whose technology allows travel agents to search for and compare airfares, wants to bring new allegations against American but says the airline’s bankruptcy is preventing it from doing so. American, [...]
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Will American Airlines go dark for Orbitz and corporations?
TransportAfter multiple deadline extensions, the content participation contract between American Airlines and Travelport expired January 15, setting the stage for more disruption if either party gets tired of the status quo. For the moment, at least, both sides are playing nice in their public statements, at least. American says it intends to keep providing its [...]
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The Syrian government’s cozy relationship with the world’s leading airline ticketing companies
TransportDespite the horrors of the Syrian government’s attempt to brutally crush the uprising in Syria, global distribution system (GDS) and airline IT providers Travelport, Amadeus, and Sabre provided services to the Assad-goverment controlled Syrian Arab Airlines, even during its ongoing, brutal crackdown. Travelport, which took in more than $4 million in revenue from Syria in 2011, only suspended [...]
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Fee displays on airline websites are dynamic and inconsistent
TransportBooking a ticket on an airline website these days is a little like finding your way through an ever-changing online thicket in which new obstacles pop up a la the maze in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” The major reasons for this are that airline strategies for ancillaries continue to evolve, as do [...]
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Travelport’s woes may put a crimp in its controller Blackstone’s travel ambitions
DigitalTravelport Ltd., the unprofitable travel-reservation system controlled by Blackstone Group LP, is heading for a showdown with lenders that refused to give up the right to accelerate a $1.5 billion payment. The loan holders balked at removing a so-called springing maturity from their debt due August 2015, meaning it will need to be repaid along [...]
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Why the American Airlines-Sabre settlement had nothing to do with antitrust
TransportNow that the redacted settlement papers have been filed with the bankruptcy court, Sabre looks from outward appearances to be the big loser in its protracted dispute with American Airlines. But, Sabre was right all along about one thing: the pitched battle between the airline birth parent and its GDS offspring was never about the [...]
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Amadeus reports an OK Q3 as it keeps on biting off bigger chunks of the airline industry
TransportIf you flew this year on British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, Qantas and about 130 other airlines, your carrier was using IT services from Amadeus, even though the majority of the 420 million passengers handled by the company’s solutions during the first nine months of 2012 probably never heard of the firm. Madrid-based Amadeus [...]
