Amadeus strengthens air content offer to travel agencies

Low-cost carrier bookings through the Amadeus system register 21% increase in first half of 2011; more than 70 low-cost carriers now distributed by Amadeus

Dubai-UAE: 16 November, 2011 - Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, announced today the availability of flydubai, Dubai's first low cost airline, in the Amadeus system. Travel agents worldwide can now access, book and ticket flydubai content directly from the Amadeus Selling Platform solution.

The presence and market share of low-cost carriers (LCC) continue to expand worldwide with the Middle East among the fastest-growing sectors. According to OAG FACTS, LCCs notched a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in scheduled capacity following a growth of nine per cent in February 2011, with the Middle East registering optimum growth in terms of frequency at 21 per cent.

flydubai is one of the key players in the LCC segment. As a leading distribution partner in the region, Amadeus is committed to providing its travel agency customers with access to relevant and in-demand air content. The availability of flydubai data enables travel agencies to diversify their offering, better serve their customers and, therefore, increase their bottom line.

The arrangement with flydubai strengthens Amadeus air-content offering worldwide, particularly in the Middle East region. Through accessing air content directly from the Amadeus Selling Platform application, travel agents can enjoy seamless booking and ticketing workflows without the need to switch to external application. This results in significant time and cost savings. Currently, Amadeus provides access to bookable content from more than 425 airlines, making it a strong value proposition.

"Many low cost carriers start distributing to travel agencies to pursue revenue growth. On the Amadeus system, we have shown how airlines can improve margins by targeting higher yield business passenger and extending their reach into new segments. The travel agency community also benefits from deeper access to content, enabling them to respond to the travellers' evolving needs," comments Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Middle East & North of Africa, at Amadeus.

Total bookings on low-cost carriers by travel agencies using Amadeus in the first half of 2011 increased by 21 per cent compared with the first half of 2010. More than 70 low-cost carriers are now bookable within the Amadeus system, including flydubai, Air Arabia Morocco, AirAsia, easyJet, Virgin America and WestJet.

-Ends-

Amadeus is a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.

Customer groups include travel providers (e.g airlines, hotels, rail, ferries, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and individual travellers).

The group operates a transaction-based business model and processed 850 million billable travel transactions in 2010.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations - data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At a market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 73 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

Amadeus is listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges and trades under the symbol "AMS.MC". For the year ended 31 December 2010, the company reported revenues of EUR 2,683 million and EBITDA of EUR 1,015 million. The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

To find out more about Amadeus please go to www.amadeus.com.

To visit the Amadeus Investor Relations centre please go to www.investors.amadeus.com.

For further information please contact:             
Contact details
Amadeus
Corporate Communication
tel: +34 91 582 0160
fax : +34 91 582 0188
e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com

Agency 
Aseel Nihad                                          
Associate Account Manager  
APCO Worldwide (JiWin Public Relations)
Phone: +971 4 3613584                                 
Email: anihad@apcoworldwide.com

© Press Release 2011