MakeMyTrip.com selects Amadeus as its exclusive technology partner to power all online bookings

MakeMyTrip.com customers to benefit from superior online booking experience

Bangkok, Thailand (Asia Pacific), 19 March 2009: Amadeus, a leading global technology and distribution partner to the travel and tourism industry, has today announced that MakeMyTrip.com, the leading OTA and amongst the top three travel companies in India, will be fully powered by Amadeus. For the website’s customers, this will mean more choices as well as an enhanced online shopping experience.

MakeMyTrip.com has been operating its international bookings engine on Amadeus’ platform since 2007. Following the success of this partnership, MakeMyTrip.com has decided to move its domestic airline booking engine onto the Amadeus platform as well. The resulting synergies in domestic and international operations will lead to the lowering of operational costs for the travel portal.

The website will operate using Amadeus Web Services 2.0 - a second-generation, state-of-the-art global technology platform that provides full access to Amadeus’ content. Amadeus Master Pricer, a cutting-edge low fare search tool, will help customers to quickly and easily find options that suit their travel needs and budget. In addition, Amadeus provides a dedicated 24x7 service team in India which is backed up regionally by an Asia Pacific support structure, thereby ensuring faster turnaround and seamless support to the end consumer.

"We are pleased to announce that all the online travel bookings on MakeMyTrip.com will henceforth be processed by Amadeus. We expect this to greatly benefit our customers as domestic travellers can access a greater number of travel options than before due to the comprehensive content on Amadeus,” said Keyur Joshi, Co-Founder and COO of MakeMyTrip. “We have had a fruitful international partnership with Amadeus who is the market leader in India helping us to continuously stay ahead of the competition. The move to bring our domestic engine onto the same platform will enable us to focus on marketing our products and serving our customers more effectively, and ensure that our operating costs are kept low.”

Ankur Bhatia, Managing Director, Amadeus India, said, “Amadeus is currently the fastest growing GDS in the Indian online travel space, with a growth rate of over 70%. This is the direct result of listening to the needs of partners like Makemytrip.com and delivering customised technology solutions to overcome their challenges.”

“In India, almost 4.5 million bookings, or 11% of all air bookings, were made using an online portal in the past year. This represents a 56% increase from the previous year. Amadeus has the expertise and technology to support this exponentially growing market, and MakeMyTrip.com’s choice is a testament to our success,” he concluded.

David Brett, President of Amadeus Asia Pacific, said, “Despite the downturn afflicting the entire travel industry, online bookings in Asia Pacific have increased by 17% and currently represent 5% of the total number of air bookings in this region. This presents a strong opportunity for leading online portals such as MakeMyTrip.com to grow their market share.”

“We are very pleased that Amadeus has been chosen as the exclusive technology partner of MakeMyTrip.com, to help strengthen its reach and provide customers with more choice and an enhanced shopping experience,” said Brett.

Headquartered in New Delhi, MakeMyTrip.com made its debut in the Indian domestic market in 2005, making it the first and only comprehensive India-based online travel site with real time booking for flights, hotels, travel packages, holidays and cars. Today it has over 50% of India’s domestic market share and is among the top three travel companies in India.