1987

Four European airlines decide to merge their own computer reservation systems to create a new European global distribution system. Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS join forces to create Amadeus, with a combined investment of almost $300 million.

Amadeus is officially born on Wednesday 21 October 1987. It is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

Amadeus begins hiring staff, with the first group of employees assigned from the four founding airlines. These people move to Miami to start defining the scope and functionality of the new Amadeus GDS. 

Amadeus uses the application software of an existing US reservation system - System One - to base its new system on. Hardware and operating system software are developed by IBM, which also provides systems integration support on a Europe-wide basis.

Global distribution system (GDS) is the term used to describe a large computer reservation operation, which books and sells tickets for multiple airlines. It also distributes 'non air' products such as hotels, car rental companies and insurance companies.

System One is a worldwide travel agent computer system owned by Texas Air and Continental Airlines in the United States.

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