Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a landmark ten-year contract with Amadeus which will see the carrier and its subsidiary, Dragonair, adopt the complete Altéa Customer Management Solution (CMS) to manage their passenger service chain, including reservations, inventory and departure control systems.  The deal will be used to support the airline’s aggressive growth strategy and to increase operational efficiency.

Edward Nicol, Director Information Management at Cathay Pacific Airways, said:  “This agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to invest in new technology to support our growth plans and commercial objectives. We have chosen Altéa CMS, after a detailed selection process, because it is the best fit with the airline’s business requirement to serve our customers better and to improve our operational efficiency and productivity.”

Cathay Pacific Airways, which already uses Amadeus’ internet booking engine to power its commercial website, has identified IT as a core component of its strategy as it seeks to expand operations and continue to grow in some of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets like China, as well as the US and Europe.

The contract with Cathay Pacific Airways represents another significant milestone and underscores Amadeus’ reputation as a leading technology provider to the airline industry.  According to Hans Jorgensen, Vice President, Strategic Airline & Partner Programmes at Amadeus:  “As one of the world’s most successful airlines, in terms of both profitability and growth, we are delighted that they have selected Altéa CMS as their customer management system.”

He continued: “We believe that Cathay Pacific’s decision as the first Asian carrier to choose the whole Altéa suite of solutions, will be viewed positively by other airlines and catalyse growth for Amadeus in the Asia-Pacific region, as a leading IT provider in the travel industry.”

Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, who together carried 22 million passengers in 2006, join 42 airlines across the globe that have selected Altéa CMS.

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