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Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, and Amadeus, the leading global technology partner for the travel and tourism industry, announced the signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) for the airline to assess the first phase of rolling out the Amadeus Altea Customer Management System (CMS).
Although THAI has used the Amadeus Reservations System for the past 19 years, the MOU lays out plans for the carrier to begin a thorough evaluation of the implementation of the Amadeus Altea Ticketing, Inventory and Departure Control modules. These would replace THAI’s long-standing ROYAL in-house system.
Altea will help THAI to significantly reduce the ongoing costs associated with IT development and maintenance and automate processes that previously have been carried out manually – such as departure gate programming and seat planning.
In the event that THAI’s evaluation of Amadeus Altea is positive, the airline intends to join the Star Alliance Common IT Platform (CITP). This will allow THAI to be on the same data platform with other Star Alliance member airlines, thereby offering customers a higher and more consistent level of service across the network.
Mr. Pandit Chanapai, THAI’s Executive Vice President of Human Resources (formerly Executive Vice President of Commercial Department), said that THAI’s decision to sign the MOU to assess Altea emerges from THAI’s membership in and commitment to Star Alliance, whose CITP is based on Altea. Furthermore, Altea was chosen due to THAI’s long-time partnership with Amadeus.
Mr. Chanapai added, “THAI seeks the Altea solution as a strategic move towards next-generation customer management systems, complete with IT capabilities made possible through IT outsourcing. This industry-leading system will enable THAI’s passenger services with the latest technologies, allowing THAI to remain at the forefront of a rapidly changing airline industry where IT development and automation evolve quickly.”
“Amadeus Altea holds advantages in many areas and will further improve our customer service levels, as well as provide enhanced integration with our Star Alliance partners. As a leading airline in Asia Pacific, THAI is proud to sign this MOU for cutting-edge technologies that will enhance the travel experience of our customers.”
David Brett, President, Amadeus Asia Pacific, said, “Amadeus is delighted that THAI, a long-term and valued partner of Amadeus, has decided to consider upgrading its current IT system with Amadeus’ industry-leading and innovative Altea CMS. This solution has quickly become the industry-standard in airline IT, adopted by the world’s leading carriers. It has the potential to help THAI to further enhance passenger service and ultimately build more customer loyalty.”
Fifteen Star Alliance member carriers, including Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, have chosen to adopt the full Amadeus Altea CMS solution, together with 50 other airlines around the world.
THAI earned the number one ranking in the First and Business Class Airport Service in Skytrax Research 2009 annual survey of more than 16 million respondents from 95 countries. The airline flies to 72 destinations in 35 countries around the world. THAI has more than 27,000 employees and a total of 90 aircraft in its fleet.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
