Aerocontractors Ready With IATA E-Ticketing, Interactive GDS Participation
March 16, 2008
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Home page of the
Aerocontractors of Nigeria
website
powered by AirKiosk systems.
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AirKiosk system implementation of Amadeus Active Sell Completes Airline's
IET Capability
An AirKiosk system link to Amadeus Active Sell (AAS) has been completed for
Aerocontractors, Nigeria's premier regional airline. AAS is the highest
level of Amadeus GDS participation, allowing Amadeus Travel Agents to query
availability and book flights managed in the AirKiosk reservations system in
realtime. The Amadeus connection follows completion in 2007 of a link
between Aerocontractors' AirKiosk system and the Worldspan IET Interchange
solution. Together, the developments allow Aerocontractors to continue
interline sales with its major partners and sell to travel agencies using
the IATA BSP, in line with the IATA mandate for 100% electronic ticketing by
June 1, 2008.
"This is a major milestone, both for Aerocontractors' interline partnerships
and expansion of GDS sales," said Mark Snoxell, Aerocontractors Business
Development Director. "The AirKiosk system team's expertise and work with
our other partners was a key to getting this accomplished ahead of deadline."
The AirKiosk system has provided electronic ticketing since 2002. When the
IATA BSP service is used by airlines for ticket issue and settlement,
exchanging this electronic information requires realtime connections with
each of the airline and GDS systems involved, based on Type A Host-to-Host
protocols and EDIFACT message structures.
Aerocontractors' Worldspan IET Interchange project was started in June 2007
with the help of KLM, a major Aerocontractor interline partner. In order to
activate the Worldspan link with KLM, Aerocontractors also needed to
increase its participation level in Amadeus, which provides inventory and
reservations management for KLM.
"We are now looking forward to activating interline agreements based on IATA
e-ticketing with our partners Air France and British Airways," Snoxell said.
About Aerocontractors
Aerocontractors is Nigeria's leading airline, flying regionally and
connecting international passengers through interline agreements with KLM,
Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic. Founded in 1959
to serve the oil and gas industries, Aerocontractors began scheduled
operations for the public in 2002, implementing the AirKiosk system.
Aerocontractors was the first airline in West Africa to offer booking
through the Internet. Aerocontractors is one of only two airlines
recommended by the U.S. and British governments for air travel in Nigeria
based on its high safety standards and reliability. Aerocontractors is
owned by Nigerian investors and CHC Helicopter Corporation of Canada.
Online booking of Aerocontractors flights is available on their website
www.flyaero.com.
About the AirKiosk System
The AirKiosk system is an integrated travel inventory, reservations,
passenger and revenue management solution which allows for both direct sales
and distribution through indirect channels, such as GDS companies using
industry connectivity standards and the online travel trade, using XML
links. Developed and owned by Sutra, Inc. based in Massachusetts, the
AirKiosk system has been in use by airlines around the world since 1999.
About IATA E-Ticketing
In 2004 IATA imposed a deadline of December, 31 2007 for 100% use of
IATA-standard electronic tickets within the IATA BSP, a payment settlement
service used by 60,000 travel agencies outside of the United States.
However, the IATA e-ticket standards were not complete at the time, and only
the largest airlines allied with the four large GDS companies, Amadeus,
Sabre, Galileo and Worldspan, were able to confirm implementation of some
kind of IATA e-ticketing support by that deadline. The cost of the projects
to reach compliance were estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In addition, compliance mandated participating in GDS companies at the
highest levels requiring additional projects, subject to long, advance GDS
scheduling times, for many airlines. Under pressure from member airlines
IATA extended the deadline to May 31, 2008.
About GDS Distribution Options
Flights available to travel agencies using the GDS intermediary systems are
based on links between the airlines' inventory management systems and the
GDS reservations networks.
There are different types of links, with varying functionality, defined by
participation agreements between each airline and GDS company. The major
concerns for airlines using the GDS networks are the high costs involved and
the timely receipt of payments from agencies selling their tickets. Key
options for airlines considering GDS use are:
- Link Level. IATA AIRIMP messages over Type B transmission, which is not a
real-time link, but relies on the exchange of inter-system messages for
accurate flight availability. Or, EDIFACT messages over Type A
transmission, which is a realtime link ensuring accurate availability displays.
- Ticket Issue/Settlement. Ticket issue through the GDS system, in which
payment is taken by the agency and must be later collected by the airline,
through a service such as IATA BSP. Or, "Guaranteed Sell," in which tickets
are issued by the airline's own system upon direct payment to the airline by
credit or debit card.
For more information about the AirKiosk solution for airline reservations
and distribution management, please contact us.
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