SITA has signed an agreement with the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to automate passenger and baggage processing at the International Airports of King Abdul-Aziz, Jeddah, King Khaled, Riyadh, King Fahd, Dammam, and Prince Mohamad, Medina.to handle all foreign airlines' departure passengers using these airports.
H.E. Abdullah Ruhaimy, GACA President, said, "We were facing a number of challenges in managing our international airports and recognized the need for flexible and proven IT systems that will enable us to integrate and automate our operations in a cost-effective manner to the benefit of both airlines and passengers.
"Our five-year agreement with SITA will transform the international airport environment here in Saudi Arabia through the smart deployment of IT that will automate and streamline the check-in process in order to avoid delays. Security will be enhanced by ensuring passenger and bag reconciliation at all times."
The deal includes state-of-the-art airport IT solutions: AirportConnect CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) for check-in, BagManager for automated passenger and bag reconciliation to reduce mishandling rates, and Maestro Local DCS (Departure Control System).
SITA's AirportConnect CUTE Open is an integrated solution with network, software and hardware components. It serves as an IT airport platform that enables airlines to have their own proprietary applications running on CUTE (common-use terminal equipment). It is the most popular airline check-in and boarding system in use today, reducing pressure on airport space and providing airlines with greater flexibility in how they operate within the airport environment, particularly in meeting seasonal traffic demands.
SITA's BagManager, the industry's leading baggage reconciliation system will also be implemented to provide customers with tighter security, improved customer service, and better baggage control by tracking and recording the location of every bag within an airport and across multiple airports, as well as ensuring that passengers and their baggage travel together. This will allow all four Saudi International airports to meet International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) recommendations on security.
The SITA's MaestroDCS (Departure Control System) Local is a fully automated check-in, boarding control and weight and balance system for aircraft departure control. Designed for airlines, airports, ground handlers and charter companies, MaestroDCS Local provides a low-cost, easy to use check-in and DCS.
Hani El-Assaad, SITA Regional Vice-President, Middle East & Turkey, said, "The award of this Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) contract is a major milestone for SITA and strengthens our overall ability to serve the Saudi air transport community. All the airlines using the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's airports will experience a number of direct benefits including the use of their own departure control systems and improved security standards governing their baggage operations."
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About SITA
SITA is the world's leading service provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the air transport industry. SITA manages complex communication solutions for its air transport, government and GDS customers over the world's most extensive communication network, complemented by consultancy in the design, deployment and integration of communication services. Its extensive range of airline and airport applications and services includes airport operations and integrated baggage services, common use and desktop services, flight operations and air-to-ground communications and end-to-end airline distribution and fares services.
SITA has two main subsidiaries: OnAir, which is leading the race to bring in-flight mobile telephony to the market, and CHAMP Cargosystems, the world's only IT company solely dedicated to air cargo. SITA also operates two joint ventures providing services to the air transport community: Aviareto for aircraft asset management and CertiPath for secure electronic identity management and they sponsor the Internet's top level domain reserved exclusively for aviation - .aero.
SITA covers 220 countries and territories and the head office is in Geneva, Switzerland. SITA had consolidated revenues of US$1.481 billion ( 1.194 billion) in 2006.
About Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA)
Saudi GACA is a government entity run by the Ministry of Defense and Aviation of Saudi Arabia. It is headed by President H.E Eng. Abdullah Ruhaimy. As a civil aviation body, GACA is in charge of regulating the aviation industry in Saudi Arabia and is also responsible for managing all of the international and domestic airports.
Rafif Nsouli
Senior Marketing Manager
SITA
Tel: 961 1 657 200 Ext: 369
Mobile : 961 385 9849
Email: rafif.nsouli@sita.aero
Sawsan Ghanem
Active PR
Telephone: 00971-4-3900228
Fax: 00971-4-3904656
E-mail: sawsan@activepr.biz
Mohd Al-Tawil
Active PR
Telephone: 00971-4-3900825
Fax: 00971-4-3904656
E-mail: mohd@activepr.biz
Press Release 2007
