10 July 2008
Almaty, Kazakhstan, 10 July 2008:
Air Astana, Central Asia’s largest carrier, will further revolutionize
its service to customers with an automated ticket change solution
provided by Amadeus, the leading technology and distribution partner to
the travel and tourism industry.
Air Astana selected the Amadeus Ticket Changer (ATC) product after an
exhaustive and detailed evaluation. With this agreement, Air Astana will
ensure that its customers save time and airline sales agent avoids
mistakes, even when the passenger has complex ticket changes. Amadeus
Ticket Changer completely automates the time-consuming and complicated
ticket change process and can help save as much as 80% of the time
required to change a ticket. It can be used to re-issue any type of
ticket, domestic or international, un-flown and party flown, past-date,
online, interline, class / date / flight before/ after departure. It
immediately calculates the price difference and relevant information in
the currency required, enabling sales agents to instantly issue the new
ticket in an efficient and secure manner. By processing fares, taxes and
penalty fees in an end-to-end automated process, airlines ensure an
accurate process to collect expected revenues.
The system simplifies the change ticket process from 14 complex steps
to 4 easy entries saving as much as 80% of the time required to change a
ticket. The originality of this solution is the opportunity to work
with any currency in any country, point of sale through any channel.
“Amadeus Ticket Changer confirms our commitment to
providing effective technology solutions to the airline industry,
helping companies to improve processes and offer better customer
service, said Frédéric Spagnou, Vice-President, Airline Business Group,
Amadeus. “We are very pleased with the substantial uptake in recent
months, and the plans we have for 2008 demonstrate our belief in the
valuable role this solution can play in the industry.”
According to Ashendra Liyanage, Vice President Sales & Marketing, for Central Asia’s largest airline, Air Astana: “ATC
will enable us to offer our valuable passengers an enhanced service
providing them with flexibility and various options when rebooking their
travel. ATC will allow us to offer very quick and efficient service,
removing a process that used to be complicated and cumbersome”.
In the course of 2008, Air Astana will add a number of new functions to
the existing product, such as the ATC Schedule Driven option, which will
offer ticket change options to the airlines’ customers on Air Astana
website.
Amadeus Ticket Changer is completely integrated with the fares and
ticketing processes in Amadeus' Altéa Customer Management Solution (CMS)
and used throughout multiple distribution channels, including the
online channel.
Notes to the editors:
About Amadeus
Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and
buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and
point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in
the fast-changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel
providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies,
ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators),
travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and
travelers). Solutions are grouped in four solution categories –
Distribution & Content, Sales & e-Commerce, Business Management
and Services & Consulting.
Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (Corporate Headquarters &
Marketing), Nice (Development) and Erding (Operations – Data Processing
Center) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At
market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations in 75 countries
covering more than 215 markets. The company has nearly 7,800 employees
worldwide, representing 95 nationalities. More information about Amadeus
is available at: www.amadeus.com.
About Air Astana
Air Astana is a full member of IATA and the only airline in Kazakhstan
certified for aircrafts maintenance to European EASA/Part 145 standards.
Air Astana JSC is a joint enterprise of the Kazakhstan State Holding,
Samruk and British company BAE Systems with share-holdings of 51% and
49% respectively.
Currently the Air Astana aircraft fleet consists of Boeing B767-300, В757-200, Airbus А321, А320, and Fokker F50.
Contact details
Amadeus Media Relations
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Tel: +34 91 582 0160
E-mail: mediarelations@amadeus.com
Air Astana Media Relations
Tel: +7 7272 2584135 ext.162
E-mail: zhanna.badaubayeva@airastana.com