Amadeus and China Southern Airlines partner to give Chinese travellers access to online bookings

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 June 2009:  Amadeus, a leading global technology partner for the travel and tourism industry, has today announced the successful deployment of the Amadeus e-Retail solution for China Southern Airlines’ international outbound bookings.

Travellers in China are now able to book tickets to China Southern’s global destinations via the China Southern website (www.cs-air.com). Amadeus and China Southern have been working together since 2006, when Amadeus technology first helped the airline to process inbound website bookings from customers outside China. This deal now sees Amadeus powering all international online bookings for the carrier’s inbound and outbound customers.

Gan Jiang, Deputy Manager, Passenger Marketing & Sales Division, China Southern Airlines said, “China Southern Airlines has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Amadeus, having adopted Amadeus’ cutting-edge technology to drive our online business since 2006. The e-Retail booking engine helped us increase our online content and functionality for our international travellers, and we wanted to extend these benefits to our growing home market. We’re very happy to be able to cater to the needs of our Chinese customers by offering them the convenience, choice and speed of booking through our website. This will improve our customers’ online experience, while boosting our ticket sales.”

Amadeus e-Retail is the world’s most widely used integrated airline Internet Booking Engine (IBE). Its award-winning[1] user interface is fully customisable and offers a best-in-class customer experience. With the e-Retail solution platform, customers of China Southern Airlines can book all international flights on its website, including code-sharing flights originating from Sky Team, a global airline alliance that comprises China Southern Airlines and 10 other member carriers. Chinese customers can now also make payments conveniently via debit cards. The functionality to process other international payment cards will be added in the coming months.

Amadeus’ e-Commerce solutions currently power all major airlines in Greater China, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. With the deployment of the Amadeus e-Retail solution for China Southern Airlines’ international outbound bookings, Amadeus further cements its e-Commerce leadership in China.

David Brett, President, Amadeus Asia Pacific, said, “The number of Internet users in China has grown over the years to reach 298 million, comprising more than 22% of the total population[2]. This number is expected to maintain its rapid growth, and these consumers are increasingly relying on the Internet to find information and purchase travel.”

“This presents a great opportunity for airlines such as China Southern Airlines to strengthen their market position through the online channel. Amadeus has the technology to support this strategy and we look forward to helping China Southern Airlines harness the Internet’s ability to reach out to existing and potential customers directly, both in China and abroad,” he added.

Based in Guangzhou’s new award-winning Baiyun International Airport, China Southern Airlines is China’s largest airline and one of the largest carriers in Asia. It has 13 branches in China, and 54 international offices in major global markets such as London, New York, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo.

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Notes to the editors:

About Amadeus

A world-leading technology and distribution solutions provider, Amadeus delivers unparalleled expertise to the travel and tourism industry, including leading-edge solutions that cover airlines' unique business needs, independent of their size, business model or market reach.

The award-winning Amadeus e-Commerce Airline Suite comprises e-Retail, e-Merchandise and e-Service solutions for booking, merchandising and servicing online. Available as standalone components or as an integrated suite, websites can be deployed in 25 languages to improve yield and deliver enhanced customer loyalty. Over 90 of the world's leading airlines use the Amadeus e-commerce Airline Suite to power over 250 websites in more than 110 markets.

Amadeus' pioneering new-generation Customer Management Solution (CMS) portfolio, Amadeus Altéa CMS, serves network and regional carriers. The Altéa portfolio, based on a pioneering community platform concept, enables improved operational efficiency and increases revenue. The portfolio consists of the Altéa Reservation, Altéa Inventory and Altéa Departure Control solutions.

Other standalone IT solutions include amongst others: Amadeus Revenue Integrity solution, Amadeus Ticket Changer, an automatic ticket reissue tool, and a full range of ticketing solutions; including e-ticket interlining and ground-handling management technology services.

More information about Amadeus' solutions for airlines is available at: www.amadeus.com/airlines.

About China Southern Airlines

China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. – the newest member of SkyTeam - is a main air transportation business of China Southern Air Holding Company.

With flight operations based at Guangzhou’s brand-new, award-winning Baiyun International Airport, China Southern Airlines’ company logo can be seen around the globe with a brilliant red kapok delicately adoring a blue vertical tail fin.

As China’s largest airline, China Southern Airlines has 54 International offices located in major metropolitan markets around the world, including: Amsterdam, Dubai, Lagos, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, Sharjah, Sydney , Tokyo, New York, London, Vancouver, Dubai and Brisbane,etc.

Currently, China Southern Airlines operated 342 modern Boeing 777, 747, 757, 737 and Airbus A330, 321, 320, 319 and 300 jet aircraft serving destinations to 841 cities in 162 countries, forming an extensive network, with Guangzhou and Beijing as its hubs, covering all of China and radiating throughout Asia with convenient connections to all main cities in the world via close cooperation with all the SkyTeam member airlines.

In 2007, China Southern Airlines carried nearly 57 Million passengers, being ranked world #4 and Asia #1 and the only one Asian airline listed top 5 from China, ranked as the largest airline in China for 29 consecutive years and is the only carrier in mainland China entering into the world’s Top 10 passenger airlines - based on annual passenger traffic volume.

As of 16 July 2008, China Southern Airlines had achieved more than 5 Million safe flight hours and carried 2.5 hundred Million passengers safely and was honored the Five-Star Flight Safety Award by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) – the current most prestigious award for safe flight operations in the Chinese aviation industry, becoming the only Chinese carrier maintaining the longest safety record and occupying a leading position in the international aviation industry.

In 1995, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007, China Southern Airlines was honored by the CAAC with the “Golden Roc Cup” – the previous most prestigious award in the Chinese aviation industry. China Southern Airlines is committed to putting the customer first and dedicated to exceeding its customers’ expectations by offering reliable, on-time and convenient quality customer service.

China Southern Airlines attaches key importance to its branded products strategy, offering a host of reliable and convenient on-time services. The airline currently has the largest frequent flyer program in China - The Sky Pearl Club - with more than 4.2 Million members, enjoying numerous opportunities for free flights and flight upgrades.

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