British Airways and Amadeus extend long-term agreement

Madrid, Spain, 21 December, 2009 – Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, and British Airways, the UK’s largest international airline, have today announced a three-year extension of their content agreement taking it up to 2013. The renewed agreement guarantees full-content access to Amadeus users worldwide, ensuring travel agents have access to the same range of fares through Amadeus as they would through the airline’s website.    

John Mornement, head of selling and distribution at British Airways, said: “Amadeus is a trusted and important distribution channel and we are delighted to have reached an agreement that continues to give Amadeus agents worldwide access to our fares and which reduces our distribution costs.”

The full range of British Airways’ fares, schedules and inventory made available through the Amadeus system will be the same as those offered through any direct or indirect channel, distribution provider or website. Amadeus users can continue to access and book fares and inventory that the airline makes available to the public through its internal reservation system and its consumer website, as well as through third-party sites.  In the UK and Ireland, the opt-in levels that were established by Amadeus in 2007 remain unchanged.

“We are delighted to bring continued stability to the travel distribution marketplace. Amadeus strives to offer the widest scope of integrated content to our travel agency partners.  Our customers have long told us that access to complete content is their highest priority,” said Ian Wheeler, VP, Marketing & Distribution, Amadeus. “Full content agreements with carriers such as British Airways, are a significant part of our ongoing mission – to provide our customers with stability and clear long-term planning.”

Notes to the editors

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 travellers). 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 centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 219 markets.

The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs over 8,900 employees worldwide, representing 105 nationalities.

More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com

About British Airways

British Airways is the UK’s largest international airline, operating to 150 destinations worldwide. Last year it carried 33 million people across its network. For further information on British Airways, please visit www.ba.com.

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