Amadeus’ travel agency channel generates revenue of EUR 31.7 billion for airlines in six months

Madrid, Spain, 30 August 2007: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, today announces business results for the six months ending 30 June 2007.

Total bookings grew by 6.7% to 281.5m. Online air bookings grew by 20.4% and now represent 17.4% of total air bookings. Amadeus had 32.9% of the market in travel agency air bookings in the first half of 2007, up 2.4 percentage points year-on-year. Total revenue grew by 11.0% to EUR 1,534.1 million.

José Antonio Tazón, President and CEO, Amadeus, comments: "We have calculated that our travel agency partners booked EUR 31.7 billion-worth of air tickets on Amadeus in the first half of 2007 clearly demonstrating the continuing value of the travel agency channel for our airline partners. Airlines also generated EUR 3.6 billion euros through their own websites using Amadeus technology.

During 2007 we have continued to expand our IT solution business with a ten-year agreement with Cathay Pacific, the first Asian airline to sign for the full Amadeus Altéa suite of customer management solutions.

The distribution and technology solutions we offer to all our travel industry partners are based on the most advanced technology platform in the industry. By 2010, we will have completely decommissioned our legacy transaction protocol framework technology and will be running 100% on next generation open systems. This gives us confidence that we will continue to deliver high value technology solutions to the industry for many years to come."

Travel content
Amadeus signed low-fare content agreements with over 150 airlines in 2007. Amadeus has a specific programme for the European market, Amadeus Full Content Option, under which 71 airlines guarantee access to their complete public inventory of flights and fares with no GDS surcharge on these bookings. Travel agents can now also access the content of 52 low-cost carriers in Amadeus.

Amadeus e-ticket community is the largest in the industry with 209 airlines using e-ticket distribution in 143 markets, where 78% of tickets issued by Amadeus in the first six months of the year were e-tickets. Furthermore, Amadeus has agreements with 71 airlines to host and operate their complete e-ticketing technology and has built links to 125 airlines using other electronic ticketing systems. A total of 394 interline electronic ticketing agreements have been implemented for this community of airlines. These figures are far ahead of those announced by any of Amadeus' competitors.

Further, in its drive to eliminate the last barriers to industry-wide e-ticketing, Amadeus has also launched Electronic Ticketing Direct solution which brings e-ticketing to non-Billing and Settlement Plan markets.

Hoteliers around the world continue to respond to the value Amadeus channels add. Amadeus has added over 5,000 properties since October 2006, taking the total to 75,000 globally. 2,000 new additions were independent and boutique properties not usually available on electronic distribution systems. Over 130 brands are now members of Amadeus’ Best Available Rate programme, while its commission tracking initiative has received strong industry support. Over 20 major hotel chains have already signed up to the Amadeus Worldwide Commission Manager.

Airlines
150 airlines now use at least one core component of the Altéa Customer Management Solution to help run their business. In 2007 seven more airlines have been migrated onto the platform2, four airlines3 have signed contracts for Altéa CMS, and a further three Star Alliance airlines4 have signed up to join the Star Alliance Common IT Platform, based on Altéa CMS and hosted by Amadeus. During the first half of 2007, Qantas became the first airline to roll-out Altéa Departure Control–Flight, Amadeus’ next generation load control system. The solution ensures that luggage, cargo and passengers are distributed in a way which streamlines the loading process and optimises the fuel efficiency of the aircraft.

Amadeus also strengthened its position in the low-cost carrier market with Viva Aerobus, AerOasis and Express Jet choosing Amadeus’ LCC-specific CMS platform. With these new signatures, Amadeus now has six low-cost carrier IT customers.

From January to June, 2007, airlines generated EUR 3.6 billion in online booking value through Amadeus e-Retail engine, Amadeus’ online booking solution for airlines. This is 38% more than in the same period last year. In 2007, eight more airlines5 chose Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite and Amadeus has migrated six airlines to its e-Merchandise Solution6 , which enables airlines to structure, manage, display, and efficiently promote their fares online. Since January 2007, four Amadeus e-Travel customers have also received industry awards in the PanArab Web Awards and Interactive Media Awards recognizing the excellence of their websites; Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite is now used, as a complete solution or in part, by over 70 of the world’s leading airlines.

In the first half of 2007, fourteen more airlines chose to outsource the operation and maintenance of their ticketing systems to Amadeus. Twelve chose the Amadeus Ticketing Platform, which provides a comprehensive ticketing solution and a further two airlines decided to host their e-ticketing with the Amadeus Electronic Ticketing Server.

Hotels
Amadeus' hospitality solutions continue to grow in capability and functionality. Its Revenue Management Solution can now optimise how long a guest stays as well as how much they pay. It has also been equipped with a new module to measure its own effectiveness - quantifying the hotelier’s return on investment.

Hotel chains that have recently adopted Amadeus’ RMS include TAJ, Rocco Forte and Central Hotels and Resorts. The Cornell-Nanyang Institute has also recognised it as the industry leading solution by making it a key element of their prestigious Master of Management in Hospitality programme.

Over 6,700 properties in 75 countries now use Amadeus Property Management Systems. The popularity of these solutions is driven by Amadeus' commitment to work in partnership with clients to create customised IT infrastructure.

During the period, Amadeus announced that it had been chosen by Eclipse Hotels & Resorts International, as the sole provider of hospitality ICT solutions, supplying Revenue Management System (RMS), Property Management System (PMS), Food & Beverage Inventory and Purchasing System (F&B) and Recreations and Leisure System (SPA) to all Eclipse-managed properties.

Travel Services
Travel agents outside Europe can now buy global rail passes and point-to-point tickets for travel in Europe, the US and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India thanks to the implementation of a rail booking solution with Wandrian, a specialist in rail distribution technology. In Asia, East Japan Rail is now displayed to Amadeus travel agents alongside airlines.

In the car rental sector, Amadeus and National Car Rental are the first to offer e-vouchers worldwide. Amadeus also launched seamless car location with AutoEurope and in March adopted the new ACRISS Car Classification System worldwide. The system classifies cars more clearly, reducing search time and helping travel agents to upsell.

During the first half of 2007, Amadeus launched Insurance solutions in four new markets7, added new providers in Thailand (Thaivivat) and India (Reliance), and integrated Insurance into the Amadeus Leisure Platform in France. Airlines are also taking advantage of Amadeus Insurance: today, six airlines sell insurance to their customers thanks to Amadeus Insurance.

Leisure travel
Amadeus remains the world’s largest electronic distributor of tour content with its German solution which distributes packages from around 200 tour operators, and continues to roll out tour operator distribution solutions in other markets. In France, the AFAT Voyage network is now using the Amadeus Leisure Platform to search for, and book, tour operator packages. The platform now has more tour operator content than any other multi-tour-operator distribution platform in France. In July, Amadeus launched a destination services platform, thanks to a strategic partnership with Unaira. Unaira will provide travel planners with booking possibilities and city guide recommendations in major travel destinations around the world.

Amadeus e-Cruise, a travel agency and consumer cruise-booking platform for the US, gained its 11th travel agency customer. In addition, cruise lines continued to make use of the reach of Amadeus Cruise, a global travel agency cruise booking tool, to take their offer to new international markets: during the period, MSC Cruises launched in North America and Scandinavia; Star Cruises and Holland America Line launched in the UK; Norwegian Cruise Lines launched in France and Costa Cruise Lines launched in Ireland.

Online Travel Agencies
More and more online travel agencies are showing their appreciation of Amadeus’ leading technology solutions in this area, with particular growth in the Asian market. In February, Amadeus announced contracts with four Indian online travel agencies: Indiatimes, MakeMyTrip, Sify and Yatra.

Amadeus Meta Pricer, a pioneering low-fare search engine to help search companies to efficiently retrieve fares and availability information from their airline partners has gained considerable interest from the market in the first half of 2007. Kayak and Bezurk have already been announced as customers and more will be announced soon.

Corporations
Amadeus’ partnerships with resellers to service the world’s corporate travellers online continue to grow strongly: in the first half of 2007, 52% more bookings were made through resellers than in the same period 2006.

Amadeus e-Travel Management won 'Best Business Travel Product' at The Business Travel World Awards and 'Best Technology Provider' Award at Buying Business Travel Diamond Awards. This is in part recognition of Amadeus’ consistent development of, and upgrades to, the tool, which now offers a more personalised travel experience for the corporate traveller. Key differentiating features include the ability to use handheld devices to help corporate travellers on the move accelerate their approval process in real-time and choose hotels; the new Quick Shopper user interface; enhanced selection of flight availability from alternative local airports; access to carbon offset providers and localised services in one go; and the ability to minimise unused air tickets. Furthermore, Amadeus announced the Amadeus Adoption Academy, an enhanced end-to-end consultancy approach, which helps drive the use of self-booking tools by corporate clients such as Siemens Nordics.

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2Air Europa, Air Berlin, Edelweiss Air, Kenya Airways , KLM, LTU and Martinair.
3Aerosvit, Cathay Pacific Airways, Conviasa and Jat Airways.
4Adria Airways, Austrian Airlines and Croatia Airlines.
5Aerosvit, Air Astana, Air Europa, Asiana Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Conviasa, Egypt Air and Regional Air Lines.
6 Adria Airways, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Astana, Air Pacific, Aloha Airlines and Kenya Airways.
7 Singapore, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, and Italy.


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Notes to the editors
Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers). Solutions are grouped in four solution categories – Distribution & Content, Sales & e-Commerce, Business Management and Services & Consulting.

Solutions for travel providers
Amadeus distributes content to around 385,000 points of sale located in over 215 markets worldwide through a range of technology solutions. For airlines Amadeus Altéa Customer Management Solution (CMS) is the first new generation IT platform seen by the airline industry for 30 years, allowing airlines to unlock the full value of each traveller and turn their passengers into customers. Some 150 airlines use Amadeus Altéa Reservation (Sell) as their sales and reservation system – among these are world class airlines including British Airways, Qantas, Finnair, United Airlines and South African Airways who have also contracted Amadeus Altéa Inventory (Plan) and Amadeus Altéa Departure Control (Fly) system.

Solutions for travel sellers
The Amadeus system allows close to 84,000 travel agency locations and more than 27,170 airline offices to make bookings on some 500 airlines. It provides access to nearly 73,000 hotel properties and 27 car rental companies serving close to 35,700 locations.

More than 250,000 active points of sale around the world use the Amadeus Selling Platform (Vista), the world's first browser-based point of sale platform that allows travel professionals to focus on selling travel and developing customer relations instead of just making bookings.

Over 70 of the world’s leading airlines use the Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite to power over 250 websites in more than 80 markets.

Solutions for corporations
Amadeus' corporate travel solution, Amadeus eTravel Management, helps corporations manage their global travel programmes more efficiently and cost-effectively. The solution helps business travelers plan, personalise and purchase their trip while remaining compliant with the global travel policy. Amadeus technology supports the global travel programmes of over 1,000 corporations to integrate all the elements of their programmes into one easy-to-use and easy-to-administer solution.

The move towards mobile technology is an integral part of the vision of what the travel experience should be. Today, travelers making a booking through Amadeus e-Travel Management can read and approve their confirmation email on a wireless handheld device. Customers include Altría, Cemex, Daimler Chrysler, Ericsson, Huntsman, Nestlé, Total and Thales.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations in 76 countries covering more than 215 markets.

The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs over 7,600 employees worldwide, representing 95 nationalities. Amadeus’ revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2007 was EUR 1,534.1 million.

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