Reservations Services Manual, 24th Edition effective 1 ... - IATA

Preface
This is the 24 th Edition of the refreshed Reservations Services Manual. It will be reissued periodically to
incorporate changes to Resolutions and Recommended Practices approved by the IATA Passenger Services
Conference. The manual has been completely redesigned since the 23 rd edition, which was last issued in
2006, both in framework and contents; for example there is significant new information regarding the interface
between Reservations (RES) Systems and departure control systems (DCS).
The Reservations Services Manual is designed to provide a central source of reservations procedures and
practices for use by reservations staff. It should be used for reference purposes by reservations operational
and developmental staff and, equally importantly, as a source of training instruction.
The purpose of this Manual is to promote a much broader understanding, usage and acceptance of standard
reservations procedures, and to enable airlines and other travel industry organizations to conduct their
everyday business in the most efficient and economical manner with a more effective response to customers.
This manual equally can be used as a training document for established automated airlines, as well as for
those being introduced into emerging non-airline products and services, such as rail, ferry, car and hotels.
All of the products and services that can compose a customer's entire journey are today being distributed
through a number of marketing channels, utilizing professional agents and personal data devices. Therefore,
this document also explores the relationship and technology that exists amongst airlines, customers,
marketing media and service providers.
Readers of this document are encouraged to buy its technical companion manual called the AIRIMP Manual
which is the sole reference source of universally agreed upon communications standards for the handling of
RES interline messages. The AIRIMP standards are used in millions of transactions between CRS and airline
systems and by airline to airline systems.
Refer to: www.iata.org/airimp
Indeed, this manual makes reference to other IATA documentation which is available at the IATA online store
at www.iataonline.com/store. The IATA documents referenced are:
• Airline Coding Directory (ACD)
• Airport Handling Manual (AHM)
• Multilateral Interline Traffic Agreements (MITA) Manual
• PADIS EDIFACT Documents
• PADIS XML Documents
• Passenger Agency Conference Resolution Manual (PACRM)
• Passenger Services Conference Resolutions Manual (PSCRM)
• Passenger Tariff Composite Conference Resolutions Manual (COMP)
• Reservations Interline Message Procedures—Passenger (AIRIMP)
• Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM)
• Systems and Communications Reference Manual (SCR)
• Ticketing Handbook (THB)
• Travel Information Manual (TIM)
UPDATES IN THIS EDITION
The 24 th Edition of the Reservations Services Manual has been completely redesigned. In future, this section
will summarize the updates made to the previous edition.
Any comments, questions, or suggestions concerning this Manual should be addressed to the Editor by e-mail
to rsm@iata.org.
RSM, 24th Edition, 1 September 2012
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