Airline Distribution 2006, hosted
by UATP and Airline Business magazine, netted a record audience this year
with over 200 attendees and 40 airlines represented in Dublin.Keynote presenter Duane Futch, Director of Global Travel Services, Wal-
Mart stated, “Attendance at the 2006 UATP Distribution Conference
represented an outstanding return on investment for our Company.” Wal-Mart
operates one of the largest business travel budgets in the world with 1.7
million Wal-Mart associates worldwide.
  “This conference not only provided vast learning and networking
opportunities for us, but with airline representatives outnumbering
vendors, it gave us the opportunity to discuss CheckFree’s new UATP
partnership with airline decision makers,” stated George R. Eubank,
director, National Retail Sales, CheckFree.
  Eubank was one of four expert panellists for a session titled: the Next
Generation Payment Models. He and other representatives from PayPal,
BilltoBill and UATP addressed lowering the cost of accepting payments.
  “We are already following up on new business prospects as a result of
attending the UATP-Airline Business Distribution Conference which made our
sponsorship even more valuable,” Eubank added.
  PayPal also announced its partnership with UATP as a way to gain quick
access for their payment methods to UATP’s global network of merchant
airlines and travel agencies. PayPal and CheckFree expect their
UATP-related products to be available to consumers by Q3 2006 or sooner.
  “The overall success of the conference came from the outstanding
content that each presenter and panellist brought to Airline Distribution
2006 along with the active audience participation,” said Ralph Kaiser,
president and CEO, UATP. “This is the second year that UATP has partnered
with Airline Business to present the conference. The editorial and industry
content improves every year; Airline Distribution 2007, being held in the
Americas, will prove even more valuable!”
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