Cathay Pacific inks decade long deal with Amadeus

Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a landmark 10 year contract with Amadeus to use the GDS’s Altéa Customer Management Solution. Cathay Pacific, and its subsidiary Dragonair, will use the Amadeus system to manage reservations, inventory and departure control systems.  The deal is a coup for Amadeus, which has long-endeavoured to shift focus beyond traditional ticket…

Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a landmark 10 year contract with Amadeus to use the GDS’s Altéa Customer Management Solution.

Cathay Pacific, and its subsidiary Dragonair, will use the Amadeus system to manage reservations, inventory and departure control systems. 

The deal is a coup for Amadeus, which has long-endeavoured to shift focus beyond traditional ticket distribution services, to back-office airline management solutions, in the face of declining GDS popularity and fees.

Cathay Pacific, which already uses Amadeus’s internet booking engine to power its commercial website, has identified IT as a core component of its strategy as it seeks to expand operations in fast-moving aviation markets such as China.
 
Cathay Pacific marks the first Asian carrier to sign up for the entire Amadeus Altéa suite of solutions. Amadeus hopes other Asia-Pacific carriers will follow Cathay’s lead, allowing the GDS to further capitalise on the region.

Hans Jorgensen, vice president of strategic airline and partner programmes at Amadeus, said “We believe that Cathay Pacific’s decision will be viewed positively by other airlines and catalyse growth for Amadeus in the Asia-Pacific region, as a leading IT provider in the travel industry.”