Travellers using Geneva International Airport, Switzerland, are the first to be offered the use of a new prototype web-service to check their flight status. The pilot programme is timed to take place throughout the prestigious ITU Telecom World 2003, 12th-18th October.

Jean-Pierre   Jobin,  Director   General,  Geneva International Airport,

comments;  “This is the first trial of the new .aero shortcuts anywhere in

the world.  We hope that all travelers using our airport will find the

service a useful and rapid way to check the latest departure and arrival

information. It is pleasing that we can also offer this service, especially

for the large numbers of IT literate people expected to attend the ITU

Telecom World 2003 event.”

The pilot service, available from 4th October until 7th November, for all

flights to and from Geneva, uses new methods of presenting existing flight

information based on recognizable aviation conventions and the aviation top

level domain .aero.  Operated via a web-browser enabled mobile telephone,

PDA or PC, three service options are available:

*Enter the flight number, followed by .aero. For example, http://BA723.aero
for the status of the British Airways flight from Geneva to London or
http://LX1751.aero for information about the Swiss International Air Lines
flight from Rome to Geneva.

*Enter the three-letter airport code for Geneva (GVA), followed by the code
for any other airport, to find out about direct flights to or from Geneva.
For example http://gva-zrh.aero for flights between Geneva and Zurich.

*Or enter http://gva.airport.aero for details of all flights from or to
Geneva International Airport.

The trial is a result of close collaboration between Geneva International

Airport and SITA, the IT and

telecommunications   services organization owned by the air transport

community.  SITA sponsors and maintains the .aero domain structure on a

not-for-profit basis, with support from major industry associations.

David Gamper,  Director,  Facilitation and Technical/Safety of Airports

Council International (ACI), the industry association representing airports

which   is officially partnering the .aero initiative,  states:  “This

development is important for airports. It helps passengers because they can

obtain real-time updates on flights when they wish, rather than only when a

message is sent to them. This is a very cost-effective way for airports and

airlines to provide improved customer service using the .aero domain in a

novel way.”

 

Marie Zitkova, SITA’s Head of .aero, added: “This trial, which demonstrates

the use of a new naming convention, brings us closer to realizing our

vision of the vast potential of the .aero domain. It also illustrates the

aviation   community’s ability to keep innovating,  and to adopt new

technologies to improve services for travelers at a low cost”.

——-