editorial/ cover story - Air World

AVIATION NEWS
management companies that tend
to dominate the landscape.
The CAAC’s loosening of
regulations, which will allow
foreign GDSs to distribute non-
Chinese airlines’ fares and
schedules to Chinese travel
agents, has been a long time
coming.
China was supposed to open its
GDS market to foreign
competition as a condition of
admission to the World Trade
Organization, which it joined 11
years ago.
Meanwhile, TravelSky
Technology Ltd., which functions
not only as the only GDS
operator in the market but also as
the near-monopoly provider of
airline passenger services
systems, has formed a number of
relationships with western GDS
companies over the years.
In 2002, Amadeus agreed to
provide TravelSky with access to
its non-air content.
This year, TravelSky signed
reciprocal hotel content
agreements with Sabre and its
Asian subsidiary, Abacus
International.
By far, its deepest relationship is
with Travelport. The companies
signed a joint product
development agreement focused
on advanced passenger service
systems technology for airlines
worldwide. They also have a
hotel content agreement.
According to reports in Orient
Aviation, a Hong Kong-based
publication, TravelSky has flirted
with the idea of merging with an
outside GDS company, looking at
deals with Amadeus and with
Singapore-based Abacus
International, which is partially
owned by Sabre and is hosted on
the Sabre platform.
Despite the challenges ahead in
dealing with what is arguably one
of the most bureaucratic nations
on earth, the non-Chinese
companies are upbeat about the
changes.
“These new regulations are the
green light that many airlines,
agencies, suppliers and
technology companies have been
waiting for, and we expect to see
the industry evolve as new travel
services become available,”
Sabre said in a statement.
Sabre noted that it provides
technology to several Chinese
carriers. It said it will “work
closely with our travel partners,
including Abacus, to bring new
travel shopping, pricing, mobile
and distribution capabilities that
support China’s rapidly growing
tourism industry, their prosperity
and success.”
Robert Bailey, chief executive
officer of Abacus International,
said the company is “in an ideal
situation, especially with our
Asia Pacific leadership through
our 11 shareholder and partner
airlines.”
Abacus also has offices in
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Shenzhen and Chengdu and is
“firmly entrenched” in the
Chinese market.
Travelport said it welcomed the
“partial deregulation.”
Kurt Ekert, chief commercial
officer, said Travelport has
developed “a number of
significant strategic partnerships
in the country. This news very
much plays to our partnership
approach, and we’re looking
forward to providing
complementary travel
distribution services in the
country.”
The company has offices in
Shanghai, Beijing and
Guangzhou.
Amadeus plans to start off with
its Amadeus Link technology, a
web-based desktop platform of
integrated tools and services,
Tompkins said.
Amadeus also is no stranger to
the market, he said, noting that
“about half the international
carriers that serve China are
hosted on Altéa,” Amadeus’
passenger services system.
Travel, particularly international
travel, is fueling huge growth in
the Chinese economy, he said,
and until relatively recently,
“leisure didn’t exist as a
concept.” With the development
of a middle class, the Chinese
have discovered holidays in a big
way.
“You need to bring in modern
systems” to deal with the rapid
growth, Tompkins said. In the
world of travel technology, “this
is the last big frontier.”
WestJet,
British
Airways enter
into codeshare
agreement
By: Kathryn M. Young
WestJet (WS) entered into a
codeshare agreement with British
Airways (BA), effective
immediately. The BA code will
be placed on select WS flights
connecting from Vancouver,
Calgary and Toronto to Ottawa,
Edmonton and Victoria.
The agreement with BA is the
eighth signed since September
2011 by WS. The Canadian
airline has initiated codeshares
with American Airlines, Cathay
Pacific, China Eastern Airlines,
Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines,
KLM and Korean Air.
BA-director of strategy and
business units Lynne Embleton
said the partnership “will enable
easier travel from Canada’s
gateway cities to destinations that
have been more difficult to
access from the UK.
WS is the second largest airline
in Canada. It flew 2.6 billion
RPKs in July (ATW Daily News,
Sept. 12) for a combined total of
10.7 billion RPKs for the first
seven months of 2012.
United Airlines
takes delivery
of first 787
By: Linda Blachly
United Airlines (UA), the North
American launch customer for
the Boeing 787, has taken
delivery of its first of 50
Dreamliners.
UA previously announced it will
initially use the 787 on
international routes to Africa,
Asia and Europe (ATW Daily
News, Aug. 23). The airline will
conduct temporary domestic
flights before transitioning its
787 fleet to international service
in late 2012.
AIR WORLD October 2012-51