Middle East Airlines and Amadeus e-Travel Won gold at the Pan Arab Web Award Ceremony

Madrid, 20 April 2007: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, today announced that Middle East Airlines (MEA) and Amadeus e-Travel, the e-commerce division of Amadeus scooped a gold award in the e-commerce category of this year’s Pan Arab Web Awards. Judged across five key criteria – including creativity, content, usability, aethetics and interactivity – MEA’s website (MEA.com.lb) scored higher than any other nominee and received the highest honour available.

The Pan Arab Web Awards, judged by a panel of leading experts drawn from academia and business across the Middle East, seek to raise the standards of websites across all key elements and encourage e-business in the region. The awards are open to entries from organisations across the Arab world.

On receiving the award, Mr Nizar Khoury, Head of Commercial Middle East Airlines, said: “It is important that we continue to ensure the best customer experience on mea.com.lb if we are to maintain our reputation for excellence in customer service. Partnering with Amadeus e-Travel, we have been able to take advantage of the full Software-as-a-Service model and introduce new features in a matter of weeks to enhance usability and reach new levels of self-servicing online.”

Philippe Der Arslanian, Global Director, Amadeus e-Travel Suppliers and Agencies, commented: “This award recognises our innovative outsourcing model, which offers airlines a complete solution for their websites, based on Web 2.0 related technology. It also validates our focus on user experience to develop best-in-class user interfaces for airlines’ merchandising, booking, and servicing needs.”

Currently, over 70 of the world’s leading airlines use the Amadeus e-Travel Airline Suite to power over 250 websites in more than 80 markets. Amadeus e-Travel customers include Air Canada, Air France, British Midland, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Lufhansa, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.