Category Archives: Technology

Due to the recent situation occurred on 28th June 2016, at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, for passengers who have bookings on all flights departing from, arriving at, or connecting in Istanbul Ataturk Airport or Sabiha Gökçen Airport between 28 June 2016-July 5, 2016 (ticketed on/before 28 June 2016), providing that their tickets are revalidated by 31 July 2016 (inclusive) and disregarding related fare rules: 1. Rebooking and rerouting: Rebooking and rerouting will be carried out free of charge. This applies to all reservation booking classes only if at the same compartment; 2. Refund requests: Refund of unused tickets will be issued free of charge and for tickets which have been partially used (but the entire journey has not been completed), refunds will be issued after deducting the fare for the used portion, with no penalties being applied; 3. Extension of validity: Validity of a ticket can be extended until 31 July 2016 (inclusive) with no fare difference or deduction. All passengers are kindly requested to check the latest status of their flight on their official website or with their call center before traveling.

Air Cairo, an Egypt-based carrier, has signed a new agreement with Amadeus for both IT and distribution services. During June 2016, Air Cairo successfully completed its cutover to Amadeus’ Altéa Reservation and Inventory and Amadeus e-Commerce modules, whilst also signing for a full content distribution agreement.  The migration to Altéa Reservation will enable the airline to maximise booking and revenue growth through wide-reaching distribution channels, whilst Altéa Inventory provides the airline with the latest schedule management technology in the market place. Altéa will also provide the airline with a scalable platform to support its future growth. In terms of distribution, Amadeus-connected travel agencies will now benefit from access to the airline’s complete range of fares and prices, assisting the carrier in achieving its business goals in regional and international markets. Air Cairo has traditionally operated as a low cost /charter airline but is part way through an ambitious evolution aimed at becoming a Full Service Carrier. Part of the rationale for this strategic shift is access to more passengers made possible by partnerships with Egypt Air, which owns a significant stake in Air Cairo, as well as other airline partners.

Etihad Airways has introduced industry-leading technology powered by Sabre Corporation that helps personalise the travel experience for passengers, enabling them to easily purchase customised fares. The national airline of the United Arab Emirates operates more than 1,000 flights per week to over 120 destinations worldwide. Sabre’s Branded Fares will enable it to effectively market and sell its broad and unique roster of fares globally through the Sabre Travel Marketplace, reaching more than 425,000 travel agents globally including Sabre’s growing network in Asia, propelled by the acquisition of the former Abacus operations, which Sabre acquired in July 2015. Sabre Branded Fares allows airlines to address growing consumer demand for more personalised services that meet individual needs. Using Sabre’s enhanced solution, Sabre-connected travel agents can now provide travellers with Etihad Airways’ Fare Choices, enabling passengers to book different classes of travel with a variety of options, such as bags, seats and mileage to meet specific needs. Fare Choices allow Etihad Airways guests to book different classes of travel with a variety of fare options and benefits tailored to their specific needs. “Etihad Airways is experiencing strong growth and has a clear strategy to provide its passengers with more choice when booking fares,” said Harald Eisenaecher, senior vice president EMEA at Sabre. “We have been working with Etihad Airways to find new ways to further personalise its products and make the booking experience more seamless for passengers. Sabre Branded Fares is just one of several ways we are supporting the carrier’s goals to gain competitive advantage and lead the industry in offering a personalised and customer-centric service to its passengers.” Travel agents using Sabre can now offer clients more informed choices and a higher level of customer service, while also driving upsell opportunities based on enhanced visibility …

Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with interTouch, a premier integrated technology solutions provider to the global hospitality industry, to address growing ICT needs of the hospitality industry worldwide. interTouch will be offering, as part of a bundled solution, Huawei Switching & Wireless Solutions to its customers that include top-tier international hotel chains. The collaboration will enable interTouch to give its customers superior technology and innovation that delivers on connectivity requirements while significantly reducing total cost of ownership of these solutions.  The MoU signing ceremony between Huawei and interTouch took place during the annual Huawei Partner Summit held recently at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. In line with the groundbreaking MoU with interTouch, Huawei participated in the Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) conference held in Dubai last month. Farid Ben Asker, Director of Solutions for the Hospitality, Real Estate and Healthcare Industries, addressed a session at the HTNG and highlighted the importance of adopting next-generation technologies by the global hospitality industry.

The latest report published by Amadeus reveals an insight into the expectations for the future of the world by 2030. Their reports predict that by 2020 there will be a global air traffic volume growth of 5.5 per cent in the airline industry with a projected growth of luxury travel to 6.2 per cent with an overall global growth of 4.8 per cent. Their predictions for the region include Kuwait, Qatar and UAE will grow by 4.4% almost similar to the flat growth of Luxury market of 4.5 per cent (oil dependent economies). Emerging Middle East: Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iran economic sanction lifted CAGR for overall travel is 7.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent for luxury travel. At the same time the projected growth in BRIC highly influenced by the economic climate show Brazil’s lack of established middle class and the weakness of the real means a slow growth of 4.2 per cent growth. Russia will recover from its dip in 2013-15 to rise up to 9 per cent growth despite Western sanctions and unreliable oil prices. India with the highest CAGR of the 25 countries explored with 12.8 per cent growth due to its booming middle class represents the biggest luxury travel investment potential. China with 12.2 per cent growth but at a slower pace than previously as its middle class is maturing and increasing in sophistication, and unlike India the ‘boom’ has already happened. Contributing against luxury is the current fight against corruption.

The aviation industry’s first smart online flight permit application will be launched by international trip planner, Djetops, in a live Beta version demonstration at EBACE, Geneva, on  May 24-26 , 2016.  PermitsGlobal automates the complex process of obtaining over-flight and landing permits, giving pilots and flight operators 24/7 control over their flight permit applications from a smartphone, tablet or via the web.Flight Operators and Dispatchers will be able to discover the benefits of PermitsGlobal at its stand, where 11 connected devices, both mobile and PC based, will be available.  PermitsGlobal is being evaluated and tested by a number of European operators and the final product will be available to customers within the third quarter of 2016. In addition to contending with the general and special requirements for granting flight permits, the challenge for operators to date is that individual countries have different requirements and procedures, which can change on a daily basis.  In this dynamic environment the process can be time consuming and busy pilots and corporate flight departments want a lasting paperless solution that accesses all the information they need, wherever they are in the world.

The national airline of the UAE, Etihad has partnered with MTT, a Travelport company and provider of digital solutions to the airline industry, to launch a mobile application for iPhone users. The App enables guests to organise and manage their journey with even greater ease as the airline continues to adopt innovative technology to re-imagine the flying experience. Etihad Airways guests will enjoy 10 per cent off flights, and members of the airline’s loyalty programme Etihad Guest, will receive 250 bonus miles for every booking made through the mobile app before 30 May 2016. The Etihad Airways mobile app is simple and enjoyable to use, providing comprehensive trip management capabilities by leveraging the latest innovations in mobile technology. Guests can pay for their tickets by scanning their credit card and can also check in for their flight by using their mobile phone to simply scan their passport page. Boarding passes can be viewed from the app or downloaded directly to iOS Wallet.