SITA has signed a four-year multi-million agreement to provide Cathay Pacific with a fully-managed network infrastructure which will guarantee the airline network readiness for the introduction of new applications across the world. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which together with sister airline Dragonair, carried 23.3 million passengers last year, currently flies to 118 destinations using a fleet of 117 wide-bodied aircraft.

Edward Nicol, Cathay Pacific’s Director Information Management, said, “We were looking for a highly secure and scalable network that could meet our business needs in terms of user-response, performance, reliability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness, which SITA was able to supply. In addition, SITA’s Professional Services will provide essential support for the implementation and integration of the total network solution.”

The IT network upgrade will provide 425% more bandwidth to ensure regional offices have similar capabilities and network resilience as the head office in Hong Kong. In addition to messaging, the solution includes core IP services, managed firewall and end-to-end pro-active service management with a 24/7 helpdesk and an on-site service management team. Over 300 connections will be upgraded in the initial phase.

The agreement includes Airport Hub, the SITA solution which allows shared common IT infrastructure and greater network resilience in a cost effective manner at over 100 airports worldwide. Initially, Cathay Pacific’s Common-Use Self-Service kiosks application will be supported by Airport Hub at Amsterdam, Beijing, Heathrow, Kuala Lumpur, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Toronto, Vancouver and Zurich. Airport Hub will also support back-office applications once the bandwidth has been expanded.

Paul Dalton, SITA Regional Vice-President, North Asia and Pacific said, “We are very honoured to have been selected by Cathay Pacific as their network partner. SITA provides Cathay Pacific with extensive telecommunications services and we are uniquely positioned to ensure full integration for the WAN, Campus Network and Outport LAN environments. Our long experience of working with the airline makes SITA the ideal partner for the migration to a single integration layer of multiple hybrid networks in order to meet Cathay Pacific’s business requirements.”

SITA has deployed IP networks for over 500 customers and manages 19,500 connections worldwide.
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