Amadeus Introduce ATPCO Cat 35 Fare Update Tool

London, 10 June 2003: Amadeus, a leading global distribution system (GDS) and technology provider to the travel industry, has announced the development of a selling fare update tool which enables agents to add their own mark up to airline-filed ATPCO Category 35 net fares, so that the agents’ selling fare is displayed in the Amadeus system.

This new tool will enable agents to file fares faster while decreasing the potential for misquotes – providing the dual benefits of improved productivity and a reduction in the possibility of airline agency debit memos (ADMs).

Benefits of Amadeus ATPCO Cat 35 include:

o Faster fare filing and ticketing process
* No need to manually load the fare rules, routings and conditions
* Fully integrated into all Amadeus fares functionality such as PNR pricing, automated Best Buy processing and Value Pricer low fare search tool
* No additional training required for sales and ticketing staff
* Automated pricing and ticketing streamline the entire sales and documentation process

o Increased security
* Only offices authorised to view and sell the fares may do so
* Checks at every level of the system ensure that only approved agencies can display and update fares

o Full BSP reporting

Chris Airey, IT Manager at Key Travel who have been piloting the product said, “ATPCO Cat 35 fares in Amadeus offers huge time savings compared to conventional net fare loading. A complex airline contract that would take days to load manually at the agency can be available for sale in minutes as an ATPCO Cat 35 fare with a mark up of the agency’s choosing. And as long as the fare is ticketed as originally loaded in Amadeus, automated system checks eliminate the possibility of ADMs because in reality, the fare was loaded by the airline themselves.”

Peter Cacioppo, sales director of Amadeus UK, said “For many years it has been a complex task for travel agents to manually update contracted negotiated rates through the GDS systems. Up till now, most travel agents have either quoted the negotiated fare from the traditional paper contract or else they have needed to develop or purchase an in-house fares database.

“Amadeus ATPCO Cat 35 will deliver significant operational and commercial benefits for our customers. When participating airlines load their negotiated fares via ATPCO, all the agency will need to do is add their mark-up. This produces tangible business benefits such as faster time to market and increased flexibility in order to respond to what is a very dynamic marketplace.”

Notes to the Editors:

Amadeus Global Travel Distribution (MAD: AMS)
· Amadeus is the leading global distribution system (GDS) and technology provider, serving the marketing, sales and distribution needs of the world’s travel and tourism industries.

Its comprehensive GDS data processing centre serves 63,940 travel agency locations and more than 9,900 airline sales offices, which together total more than 272,980 points of sale located in over 200 markets worldwide.

Through the Amadeus GDS, travel agencies and airline offices are able to make bookings with 466 airlines, representing more than 95 per cent of the world’s scheduled airline seats. The system also provides access to 62,520 hotels, 47 car rental companies serving some 24,760 locations, and other provider groups including: ferry; rail; cruise; insurance and tour operators.

· Amadeus is a leading application service provider (ASP) to the airline industry.
134 airlines use the Amadeus Sales System in their offices to provide passengers with superior and seamless service at optimal cost.
Amadeus’s new generation of Passenger Service Systems, which include all IT systems associated with inventory management and departure control, will be implemented by British Airways, Qantas and Finnair.

· e-Travel, Amadeus’s e-commerce business unit, is global leader in online travel technology and corporate travel management solutions. It powers the Web pages of 887 travel agencies, 255 corporate sites, 18 hotel sites and 139 web sites serving 50 airlines.

Amadeus is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and quoted on the Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges. For the year ended 31 December 2002, the company reported revenues of EUR 1856m and net income of EUR 148.6m. The Amadeus data centre is in Erding (near Munich), Germany and its principal development offices are located in Sophia Antipolis (near Nice), France. The company has some 5,200 employees worldwide.

For further information please contact:

Amadeus UK
Rob Golledge
T: 0870 990 7851
F: 0870 990 9299
E: [email protected]
W: www.amadeusuk.com

Amadeus Press
Bridget Agnew / Anya Velzeboer
Financial Dynamics
T: 020 7269 7219/7174
F: 020 7831 8438
E: [email protected]