Finnair rolls out Amadeus solution in northern Europe

Finnair’s ancillary services such as seat selection have been made available for agents to book via Amadeus in northern Europe.

Finnair’s ancillary services such as seat selection have been made available for agents to book via Amadeus in northern Europe.

The airline’s use of the Amadeus Ancillary Services solution covers distribution in Scandinavia, Finland and Benelux, with extra baggage also available to book by agents in the airline’s home country.

Amadeus estimates that up to 20% of air bookings made through its system are the result of interline partnerships. This represents a huge opportunity for airlines to increase revenues through the sale of ancillary services via their partner carriers, according to the technology company.

Distribution marketing director David Doctor said: “Recent research by Ideaworks shows that ancillary services were worth over $32.5 billion to airlines in 2011 and that ancillary revenue is helping to lift airline industry earnings.

“We are delighted to be able to help Finnair tap into a sector of services which is critical to airline profitability.”

Finnair head of customer experience and sales applications Petteri Skaffair said: “By adopting the Amadeus solution, we can capture more bookings through ancillary service differentiation.

“It increases the visibility of optional services at the optimal purchase time and its consistent level of quality in the delivery across all channels results in greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.”