The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Star Alliance have renewed their collaboration on traveller document verification to improve the passenger experience. Star Alliance and IATA, in a signing ceremony at IATA’s 75th Annual General Meeting in Seoul, agreed that IATA’s Timatic AutoCheck solution will continue to power Automated Document Check (ADC) for Star Alliance member carriers. IATA Timatic AutoCheck enables Star Alliance customers checking-in at the airport counter or online to verify that their travel documents are valid and complete for the whole journey, including any transit point before travel begins. This delivers several significant benefits; preventing the embarrassing and distressing situation for passengers of being denied entry to a country on arrival owing to missing or invalid documents; and enabling a seamless experience when travel encompasses multiple carriers. Passengers will no longer need to see an agent to have their travel documents checked and rechecked at transit points, and avoiding the passenger fine to airlines for transporting inadmissible passengers. Jeffrey Goh, CEO Star Alliance said, “This marks another milestone in our continuing strategy to improve the passenger travel experience, especially for those customers who fly on multi-carrier journeys. Our partnership with IATA to extend collaboration on passenger document verification through use of IATA’s Timatic AutoCheck to support our proven solution of the ADC will help ensure a seamless travel experience for our members’ 775 million passengers, a priority that lies at the heart of our strategic repositioning.” “Digital transformation is essential to meeting evolving passenger expectations today and into the future. Star’s selection of Timatic will give its customers a better experience,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
Read More »Middle East carriers’ passenger demand fell 3 per cent in March: IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the global passenger traffic results for March 2019 showing that Middle East carriers’ passenger demand fell 3 per cent in March marking a second consecutive month of declining traffic. This reflects the broader structural changes in the industry which have been taking place in the region. Capacity increased 2.3 per cent, and load factor plunged 4.0 percentage points to 73.8 per cent. According to IATA, the overall global passenger traffic results for March 2019 showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 3.1 per cent, compared to the same month a year ago, which was the slowest pace for any month in nine years. “While traffic growth slowed considerably in March, we do not see the month as a bellwether for the rest of 2019. Nevertheless, the economic backdrop has become somewhat less favourable, with the IMF having recently revised its GDP outlook downward for a fourth time in the past year,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of IATA.
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