Regional carrier, Eastern Airways, has signed a deal with Sabre Airline
Solutions for the provision of its passenger reservation, check-in and
load-planning systems.

This deal follows similar moves from Aer Lingus` Astral system made by Air
Malta, Azzura Air, Bangkok and Cambodia-based Siem Reap and will be
implemented in December 2003.
Eastern Airways, which has expanded its network by 60 percent this summer,
will operate over 500 scheduled flights each week and plans to carry
340,000 passengers this year on a network embracing Aberdeen, Belfast,
Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Humberside, Inverness, Isle of Man,
Leeds Bradford, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich,
Southampton, Teesside and Wick.
“An increasing number of airlines are looking at changing their system
provider as a way to reduce costs,” said Vinay Dube, vice president, Sabre
Airline Solutions Europe, Middle East and Africa. “In fact, Sabre Airline
Solutions has signed 22 new carriers in the last 18 months to our
reservations and departure control solution. Airlines that choose our
solution do so because of our proven technology and leadership in
passenger systems, the high value return on investment of our products,
and our excellent record of smooth system migrations.”
Bryan Huxford, chairman, Eastern Airways, added: “Changing our
reservations system is a very big decision—but it`s the right one. We
now have the opportunity to shift focus from the systems we are using, to
managing our airline and delivering high value to our customers. We look
forward to benefiting from the operational efficiencies and introduction
of new features, such as e-ticketing, that the integrated system will
bring. In addition to their leading passenger systems, Sabre Airline
Solutions has a proven track record of successful large scale system
migrations, so we are confident our conversion will be a smooth one.”
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