GDS news from Travelport, Amadeus, Sabre, Abacus - September 2012

Product news, releases, projects and more from the global distribution systems during September 2012 – all here, in one easy read.

More recent updates first:

Thursday 27 September 2012:

Amadeus and Qantas sign content distribution extension. The long-term deal sees Amadeus agents continue to have access to the Australia-based carrier’s full range of fares, inventory and schedules, as well as ancillary services such as last seat selection.
Travelport signs distribution agreement with Nasair. The deal is the first time the Saudi Arabia-based low cost carrier has published fares and inventory through a GDS. Galileo and Worldspan-connected agents will have access to the airline’s product. In addition, Nasair will use Travelport’s ETDBaseTM on the IT side of it operations, an e-ticket database hosting service to store and manage electronic ticket data for online and interline e-ticketing.
Sabre inks deal with Italian high speed rail operator Trenitalia. The operator’s Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca services will soon be available for Sabre-connected agents to book product anywhere in the world. Trenitalia will use Sabre Rail Connect technology so that fares, using the code 7T, will appear alongside air fares in the Sabre Air display.
Amadeus taps Sabre for UK marketing boss position. Rob Sinclair-Barnes will become director of marketing for UK & Ireland and leaving the role of marketing director EMEA at Sabre. He has previously worked as group head of publishing for First Choice Holidays and at the BBC.
Travelport takes a tablet to combine the social graph of Facebook with activities, flights and hotels

Wednesday 26 September 2012:

Ebookers in France migrates its fare shopping technology to a Travelport platform. The online travel agency will use Travelport’s e-Pricing system for fare search and shopping in the country.
Travelport joins Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking. The new organisation has a mandate to help in efforts to “end human trafficking and all forms of modern day slavery”. Other founding members alongside Travelport include Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Delta, LexisNexis and ManpowerGroup.
Hotel prices in Asia – September to November 2012
DataArt hacks away to bend your trip into something new
Business travellers love apps for maps and social media but shun the specialised travel stuff

Tuesday 25 September 2012:

Amadeus signs EVA Air to the ALTEA platform. The carrier and its subsidiary UNI Airways will join the system as a result of their integration in to the Star Alliance group on airlines around the world. ALTEA currently powers over half of the carriers in the programme.
Abacus creates chairman position in China ahead of GDS deregulation. Jack Zhai Fu Hua, formerly the general manager for Abacus in China, will be responsible for the company’s operations in the country as it looks to expand the team and its operations. Zhai will report directly to vice president of Abacus’s commercial and marketing division, Brett Henry.
The buzz of San Francisco Bay, taking off the rose-tinted specs, and seeing the Space Shuttle
Travel marketer takeaways, cross-channel optimization and hotel revenue management [VIDEO]

Monday 24 September 2012:

Travelport inks distribution deal with Gulf Air. The renewal gives Travelport GDS-connected agents worldwide access to the full range of published fares and inventory from the Bahrain-based carrier. The deal is effective immediately.
Amadeus debuts on Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The company will be ranked in the Support Services sector, allowing investors to view how organisations are tracked for corporate areas such as social responsibility performance.
Group bookings with a twist and the food trip travel service win THack @ SFO

Wednesday 19 September 2012:

Travelport and Qantas agree new long-term distribution agreement. The deal gives Galileo, Worldspan and Apollo-connected travel agents access to full published inventory from Qantas, including some ancillary content such as paid-for seat selection.
Hall St wants to extend the room life cycle for hotels via marketplace

Tuesday 18 September 2012:

Sabre signs distribution deal with Air France-KLM for full content and ancillary services. The multi-year agreement will see Sabre-connected agents given access to fares and availability as well as the ability to book Economy Comfort seat on KLM. Air France will also use Sabre’s group booking technology.
Pullman and Sofitel join Lowest Public Rate Programme from Travelport. The Accor-owned hotel chains, with 190 properties between them, will guarantee agents access to the lowest publicly available rate.
Amadeus pushes Offers service to agents in North America. The system, available on the Amadeus Selling Platform, Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, Amadeus Web Services, within Checkmytrip and Amadeus e-Travel Management, allows agents to store trip options in the same passenger name record (PNR) as the itinerary, send professionally branded, pre-formatted emails with travel offers, manage multiple trip options, client proposals and itineraries, and access trip details 24/7.
Travel Traction: Five lessons travel startups can learn from industry veterans [VIDEO]

Monday 17 September 2012:

Abacus completes distribution service switch for Reliance Travel. The Malaysia-based “travel franchise system” will use Abacus for distribution of air, hotel, car and rail product, alongside the WebConnect and Bargain Finder Max tools. Reliance previously used Galileo for distribution.
European hotel prices – September to November 2012
Open source beats brand for enterprise use, says a report by Amadeus
Airline-GDS battles in the US throw new light on European regulatory review
Will the world end (or the travel industry survive) without NFC in the new iPhone5?
Travel innovators dive in at the deep end
The multiple issues surrounding airlines and ownership of passenger data
The daily hurdles of a travel technology director [think many]

Thursday 13 September 2012:

Turespaña and Amadeus agree partnership to create Tourism Observatory. The service, using the ForwardKeys technology platform, will give the state-run tourism bureau access to booking data and other global passengers trends, allowing it to forecast occupany rates and length of stay for visitors.
Amadeus extends content agreement with FCm Travel Solutions. The deal sees FCm work with Amadeus for a further five years, giving its partner network access to content via the GDS’s Selling Platform and e-Travel Management booking tool.
THack @ WIT – Developers, come and show what you’re made of in Singapore
iPhone5 – new maps, Passbook comes front and center, and more
Hotel asset management is not just about costs – it MUST include internet marketing

Wednesday 12 September 2012:

TUIFly signs IT services agreement with Travelport. The partnership allows TUIFly, one of the largest airlines in Germany, to interline with other carriers and provide e-tickets to passengers. Travelport’s E-Ticket Interchange tool will be used by the carrier as it looks to collaborate with other airlines through Travelport. The first interlining partner with be Lufthansa, allowing passengers to book customers on the national carrier and issue combined and their own e-tickets.
Sabre sells Philippines Development Center to NIIT Technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition gives NIIT the opportunity to provides technology services to Sabre and its other customers from the Manila location, a facility which has 200 so-called seats.
Travelport and RAK Airways sign first distribution agreement. The deals see Galileo and Worldspan-connected agents given access to the UAE-based carrier’s fares and inventory. The partnership begins with immediate effect.
Sabre latest to suffer reservation system outage, major airlines and hotel GDS hit
Hotel prices in North America – September to November 2012
China is opening to GDS players, and Abacus, Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport plot their moves
Airports plot investment in mobile apps and social media

Monday 10 September 2012:

Travelport completes KLM Economy Comfort seat roll-out schedule. Galileo-connected agents in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg can now book seats on the airline using what is called a new electronic miscellaneous document (EMD) programme.
GetMeToMyFlight aims for multi-modal transport search
What can travel companies learn from other online retailers? [hint: at least four things]

Friday 7 September 2012:

Travelport joins Global Travel and Tourism Partnership. The strategic partnership was created to support global eduction in travel and tourism and sees Travelport CEO Gordon Wilson, senior vice president for corporate and government affairs Dirk Vande Beek take up positions on the GTTP advisory board.
Tnooz-PhoCusWright VIDEO: LIVE research with YOU as the subject
The Scan: Emirates deals Oneworld a blow with Qantas tie-up, and more news

Thursday 6 September 2012:

Travelport gives Transavia carrier its GDS debut. The Dutch low cost carrier plans to content to Travelport-connected agencies, beginning initially with a pilot scheme in Portugal. A wider roll-out is expected during the final quarter of 2012. Transavia flies to around 100 destinations from airports in France and the Netherlands.
Government agency mines Big Data to optimize booking ratios for travel brands
Always connected: Implications of the new multi-screen world for travel
Open Hospitality rolls out Google Hotel Price Ads with real-time pricing

Tuesday 4 September 2012:

British Airways becomes first airline to take the Amadeus Passenger Revenue Accounting system. The tool allows the airline to “help airlines increase revenue, reduce operational costs, and make revenue decisions more quickly and accurately”. The change to the Amadeus system will take place in early-2014, working alongside the carrier’s use of the ALTEA hosting platform.
Amadeus signs technology agreement with Cleartrip. The Indian online travel agency will use the Amadeus Web Services 2.0 system to power its website, alongside integrating the Master Pricer low fare search system
What people in 1899 thought would happen to travel technology [hint: we failed them]
Kids back to school? Now back to work with a seven-point technology checklist for travel agents
SteadyFare sells airline ticket price guarantees, like a next generation Farecast

Monday 3 September 2012:

Sabre names new country director for Italy. Marco Benincasa joins the Sabre Travel Network from Travelport part-owned electronic payment business eNett where he was area director for southern Europe. He replaces Antonella Vecchio who moves to London as business development director for EMEA. Benincasa started in the travel industry with British Airways as regional marketing director for souther Europe, eventually becoming commercial director for Italy and general manager for Italy and Malta. He then became managing director of regional carrier Air One before joining Travelport as vice president for south Europe.
US judge denies bid from Sabre, Travelport and Orbitz to dismiss antitrust claims
Middle East hotel prices – August to October 2012
TnoozLIVE – VIDEO: Marketing to the new traveller in Asia

Previous GDS updates: