e-Travel
today announced it has engaged in a five-year contract with Air Canada to
provide online booking technology and services to Air Canada’s travel
booking Web sites for consumers and travel agencies. Set for launch in the
fall of 2004, the new Web sites are a key element of Air Canada’s
restructuring plans.

“Air Canada’s new business model sets an example for other network
carriers struggling to compete with low-cost carriers in today’s travel
market,” said Scott Gutz, president and CEO of e-Travel North America.
“Instead of taking a top-down price driven approach, Air Canada is
offering customers simple tools to find the fares and schedules that best
suit their plans. Here’s an example of where the customer’s ‘values’
really translate into the ‘value’ airlines can offer - and e-Travel is
committed to working with Air Canada to raise the bar for the industry.”

“e-Travel’s technology expertise and experience working with more than 50
airlines was a major factor when selecting a partner for our online
initiative. As we evaluated multiple vendors and technologies, e-Travel’s
abilities to provide our customers with customized options, while helping
us increase our online transactions are second to none. They are the ideal
travel technology provider to move our new business model forward,” said
Lise Fournel, CIO at Air Canada.

The new Air Canada Web sites will be powered by e-Travel Planitgo, the
fully customizable Web-based booking engine for airlines which includes
Planitgo Flex Pricer [Calendar], the global faring technology that offers
passengers the most fares - across different fare classes, times and
dates - on a single screen. Air Canada will also take advantage of
e-Travel’s custom user interface and Web design services, Web hosting
services, and offline faring services for Air Canada’s call centers.
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