Star Alliance Regional Member Adria Airways, the Slovenian flag carrier, has decided to replace its current legacy IT system with the Star Alliance Common IT Platform (CITP), the alliance’s next generation technology platform for Customer Management Systems. Under the guidance of Star Alliance Services GmbH, an agreement was recently signed between Adria Airways and Amadeus, the IT provider for the platform.
”Adria Airways will be the second Star Alliance regional member carrier to use the Common IT Platform. We are very pleased with this decision as it further underlines how the CITP suits both carrier’s requirements and expectations,” said Aman Khan, VP Information Technology, Star Alliance.
Adria Airways has been using passenger IT solutions from Lufthansa and later Lufthansa Systems since 1986. Global shifts in airline transportation market, tightened cost control, demand for new passenger services and strong competition have all been placing pressure on existing information technology infrastructure. Contemporary systems have to be reliable, flexible, modular and standardised, so Adria Airways continuously observed IT trends and technical breakthroughs in the industry. Evaluation of competitive solutions have given the Star Alliance Common IT platform advantage in many fields, thus increasingly becoming a standard among Adria's strongest partners.
“Adria Airways has always been following the path of delivering the highest level of service to its customers and the implementation of the next generation IT platform is the logical step forward on this path. It will enhance our competitiveness, simplify some of the key processes within our company and enable our customers to efficiently enjoy all the benefits of Star Alliance products, said Tadej Tufek, CEO Adria Airways.
The new platform is the first next generation Customer Management System available in the airline industry and is based on state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and software. This will enhance customer service functionalities, specifically for sales and airport environments, including such transactions as schedule, availability, inventory, reservations, fare quote and ticketing as well as passenger check-in. The improvement in customer service will come through ease of use as well as through the provision of better quality and common data for airline service agents when dealing with alliance customers.
According to Hans Jorgensen, Amadeus Vice President, Strategic Airline and Partner Programmes, “The opportunity for carriers to maximise the benefits of the technology increases as each new member comes onto the platform. By delivering a single system that offers a consistent level of customer service across the alliance airlines and their customers are able to benefit from the operational efficiencies and service benefits that characterise the Common IT platform. Equipping member carriers with the flexibility and agility of the Common IT Platform gives them the freedom to pursue their commercial goals with the confidence that the IT will support them.“
Further Star Alliance member carriers are currently in the process of evaluating the Common IT Platform powered by Amadeus.
About the Star Alliance Common IT Platform (CITP)
The new platform is based on the first next generation Customer Management System available in the airline industry. Built on state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and software, the CITP will enhance customer service functionalities, specifically for sales and airport environments, including such transactions as schedule, availability, inventory, reservations, fare quote and ticketing as well as passenger check-in. The improvement in customer service will come through ease of use as well as through the provision of better quality and common data for airline service agents when dealing with alliance customers. The CITP project was originally launched in 2005 with Lufthansa and United as the lead carriers. To date, regional members Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines have joined CITP. Additionally, Star Alliance member carrier South African Airways is using Amadeus Alt a, based on a similar technology as CITP.
About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. Star Alliance was voted Best Airline Alliance by Business Traveller Magazine in 2003 and 2006 and by Skytrax in 2003 and 2005. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, THAI, United and US Airways. Regional member carriers Adria Airways (Slovenia), Blue1 (Finland) and Croatia Airlines enhance the global network. Air China, Shanghai Airlines and Turkish Airlines have all been accepted as future members and are expected to join Star Alliance soon. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 16,000 daily flights to 855 destinations in 155 countries.
About Adria Airways
The Slovenian national airline Adria Airways has a wealth of experience spanning 46 years in charter and scheduled air traffic. The Adria story dates back to 1961, when it was founded as a charter company. In the eighties the airline started serving scheduled routes, and became a member of the IATA, the International Air Transport Association. The company is a regional member of the Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth, since 15 December 2004.
Today the majority of Adria’s business is in scheduled flights, its network links Ljubljana with more than 20 cities throughout Europe and offers excellent connections to South East Europe.
The company has one of the most modern fleets in Europe, comprising nine aircraft – three Airbuses A320, five CRJ 200 and a SAAB 340. Two CRJ 200, a B737 – 500, a B737 – 400 and a SAAB 340 are leased and two CRJ900 are to be delivered in May 2007.
About Amadeus
A world-leading technology and distribution solutions provider, Amadeus delivers unparalleled expertise to the travel and tourism industry, including leading-edge solutions that cover airlines’ unique business needs, independent of their size, business model or market reach.
Amadeus’ new-generation Customer Management Solution (CMS) portfolio, Amadeus Alt a CMS, serves network and regional carriers. The Altea portfolio, based on a pioneering community platform concept, enables improved operational efficiency and increases revenue. The portfolio consists of the Altea Reservation, Altea Inventory and Altea Departure Control solutions.
Further complementing these integrated IT solutions is the Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite. 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.
More information about Amadeus’ solutions for airlines is available at: www.amadeus.com/airlines
For further information please contact:
Star Alliance Press Office
Tel: +49 69 96375 183
Fax: +49 69 96375 683
Email:
[email protected]
www.staralliance.com
Pulic Relations Department
Adria Airways
Tel: + 386 1 3691 200
Fax: + 386 1 3691 008
E-mail:
[email protected]
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Amadeus
Tel: +34 91 582 0160
Fax : +34 91 582 0188
E-mail :
[email protected]