THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39 The Review THE TECHNOLOGY ➔ Ancillary fees the focus for Amadeus


THE SALE of airline ancillary services continues to occupy the minds of technology providers such as Amadeus, which says it is poised to fulfil growing demand in the UK, writes Mike Swindell. Amadeus UK and Ireland managing director Tim Russell says standards had been agreed between GDSs and there was nothing standing in the way of implementation. “Fundamentally the technology


is there,” says Russell. “I am not saying that at travel agency level they are ready to handle ancillary services to the full extent but that will happen shortly because the requirement is there.” He added, though, that the introduction of ancillary sales into the distribution channel brought in a new level of complexity that could cause problems when tickets needed to be changed. Ancillaries – that


could include any number of elements such as meals, luggage and specific seating sold by one airline – would need to be transferred over to a second carrier. “What happens when you have British Airways with one set of ancillaries and you get swapped to Air France which has another set?” Russell asks. “There are all kinds of elements


“We are very keen to focus our efforts in the UK on the corporate TMCs and interacting more directly with the


corporations”


APTCO’s Optional Services product to display and sell their ancillary


that still need to be worked on and standardised but one of the great things about air travel is that bodies like IATA are there to make sure there is interoperability. “Nirvana will be when people


know exactly what they are buying and what they are going to pay for and get, and we have to make sure the technology and processes are in place to enable that,” says Russell. While all GDSs are pulling in the


same direction to enable the sale of airline ancillaries, Amadeus claims a lead in getting the service out to agents through the US-based Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO). Last summer it implemented Amadeus Ancillary Services based on ATPCO data and the Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) standard. This enables airlines using


services through various sales channels – their own ticket offices, their websites and through travel agents. The solution is currently being used by Corsairfly to make its ancillary services progressively available to all travel agencies across France. While Amadeus has enjoyed dominance in its European heartland, the GDS is now turning its attention to the UK with renewed vigour and a clear intention to target the corporate market. “Amadeus in the UK has been focused for a long time on online agents and big leisure groups,” says Russell. “Now we are very keen to focus our efforts in the UK on the corporate TMCs and interacting more directly with the corporations.” The GDS claims considerable recent success in the sale of its e-Travel Management tool with its list of users including Microsoft, Vodafone, BT, Aviva, the Home Office, Burberry, Proctor & Gamble, Nokia Siemens Network, Philip Morris and Swiss Re.


TMCs that offer Amadeus


e-Travel Management to corporate clients include HRG, American Express, FCm, BCD Travel, Ian Allan Travel, Portman, Capita and Advantage Focus. Agreements with Concur and


SAP mean that Amadeus is now able to showcase a new integrated corporate travel and expense claim solution. Late last year, the Amadeus and Concur integrated solution was being piloted in the UK by an unnamed TMC. Russell says the Amadeus system shows its superiority over the other GDSs in times of major disruption such as when the airline industry was thrown into chaos by the Icelandic ash cloud. With a strong track record for developing airline operating systems, Amadeus has emerged as the leader in the field and it has made sure that the airlines’ reservations platform is the same as that used by travel agents. This means that airlines and


travel agents work from the same traveller PNR, enabling airlines to see any changes made by travel agents and vice versa. Other GDSs have developed airline operating platforms that are separate from the travel agents’ system, meaning they


work on different PNRs – a crucial difference in times of crisis, according to Russell. “When a traveller is dealing


direct with an airline during some sort of crisis, the travel agent might be willing and able to offer support but cannot look after his customer because there is no visibility on the changes that are being made,” he says. “The airlines took on a lot during the ash cloud incident and were very supportive in many ways of the agency community, however I am not sure they will be ready, willing or able to handle it to that same extent again. It was extremely expensive for everyone and they took on a lot of work which they were not geared up for,” says Russell. While not wishing a similar disaster to strike the industry again, Russell says the science predicts another Icelandic blowout sooner rather than later. “It could be ash; it could be strikes in France; it could be something different,” says Russell. “We hope that these things


don’t happen but if they do we’ve seen how well positioned some companies can be and these are the things that can make and break brands and relationships.”


48 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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