Travel Technology News - June 2013

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Created on Saturday, 29 June 2013 08:03

The latest systems news, launches and more from around the travel, tourism and hospitality industry in June 2013.

Thursday 27 June 2013:

• Mobikon Asia has launched a restaurant table reservation portal known as Konekt Concierge. The app works on multiple devices like laptop, desktop and tablets.

Wednesday 26 June 2013:

• Air Seychelles, the national carrier of Seychelles has outsourced its Passenger Revenue Accounting, Cargo Revenue Accounting, Airmail Revenue Accounting and Miscellaneous (Non-Transport) Billing to Accelya Kale.

• Hilton Worldwide will be deploying IDeaS’ G3 Revenue Management System (G3 RMS) across its 2,700+ Hampton Hotels and other focused service hotels within Hilton Worldwide’s global portfolio of brands. The G3 RMS application will be integrated with existing systems to ensure seamless operation, to track and analyze historical and current business performance, and to build future analytical applications.

• Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier of Indonesia will be implementing the newest generation of Passenger Service System (PSS), the “Amadeus Altéa”, starting from June 30, 2013. The Altéa PSS will replace Garuda Indonesia’s old reservation system, ARGA, which has been used since 1990. The cut-over has been carried out in stages, through various phases over a span of 18-24 months. This cut-over is part of the airline’s strategic expansion program called “Quantum Leap 2011-2015” program.

Monday 24 June 2013:

• Etihad Airways and SITA announced a 10-year strategic partnership with a multi-million dollar agreement. Etihad is adopting SITA CrewTablet, which its cabin crew will use to access passenger and operational data via tablets. SITA is providing IT services across Etihad’s global network of 89 destinations, as well as its hub in Abu Dhabi. This includes computing solutions powered by the ATI Cloud, including Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), which provides a flexible replacement for traditional PCs in remote office environments, and separate Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). SITA is also providing onsite support for Etihad’s end-user IT equipment located at their global offices and outstations.

Thursday 20 June 2013:

• Xerox has deployed their universal payment system, called TAP, throughout Southern California. Transit riders can now simply tap their smartchip-embedded tickets to transfer between Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Metrolink without having to show their ticket to an agent for visual verification.

• Traxo wins major deal to integrate with SAP Cloud For Travel platform. Traxo’s personal travel organiser tools will be made available to SAP customers so they can book flights, car and hotels through any web or agency channel. Bookings will be organised within the Cloud For Travel service, including management of expense reports.

• Travel Management Company (TMC) will introduce Aircell’s Gogo Biz service across its 70 fleet of light jet charter aircraft.

Wednesday 19 June 2013:

• Althoff Hotel Collection, Germany-based luxury hotel group has selected eRevMax’s RateTiger for revenue optimization. All six Althoff properties in Germany and France will use RateTiger channel manager for automated inventory adjustment.

Friday 14 June 2013:

• Air France-KLM starts on-board connectivity programme. Passengers on two routes (Amsterdam to Panama and Paris to New York) will be able to send text messages, check emails and use the web after the airlines signed an agreement with AeroMobile and Panasonic.

• Travelport releases Document Producer Plus tool for MEA agents. The service allows customers to create branded travel documentation such as itineraries, fare quotes and customer confirmations straight from an agent’s Galileo platform.

Tuesday 11 June 2013:

• Australia’s Melbourne Airport has made a $1 billion investment with SITA to introduce latest in passenger self-service technology. This initiative will reduce queuing time, maximize the use of its terminal facilities and enhance the overall passenger experience. The airport will implement SITA’s AirportConnect Open, common-use platform, supporting common use self-service (CUSS) kiosks, along with self-service bag-tagging and automated self-bag drop units.

• Amadeus will be implementing its Airport Sequence Manager solution in Munich airport. This solution optimises the flight departure runway sequencing and provides a common situational awareness for all participants in airport operations.

• Amadeus will be implementing its Airport Fixed Resource Optimiser solution in Copenhagen airport. This solution is designed to determine the best possible fixed resource allocation against the flight schedule and attributes based on an airport’s and the airlines’ business drivers, including passengers

• nuTravel Technology Solutions, a corporate online solutions provider has been selected by JetBlue Airways to develop and deploy the airline’s business travel portal. This corporate traveler solution will allow the airline to rapidly expand its base of customers in the corporate arena, allow its corporate partners to shop and book online for air, car rentals and hotel, and earn valuable rewards on future travel.

Wednesday 5 June 2013:

• Amadeus secures web services agreement with Air France-KLM. The long-term extension to the existing partnership between the pair will see both brands use the Amadeus ecommerce shopping tools for their domestic and international websites. The Flex Pricer technology will also be integrated to handle “revenue and award shopping flows” on all networked routes.

Tuesday 4 June 2013:

• Nor1 expands to Asia-Pacific region and makes key hire. Allan Taylor will become vice president of business development for APAC, based in Singapore. He was previously managing director for Great China at IDeaS.

• Datalex appoints Brian Borg as new head of airline retail. Borg arrives from Sabre where he was responsible for product marketing across its airline, agency and corporate businesses. He has also worked for a number of airlines over the course of his 20-year career in the travel industry.