SITA Information Network Computing has acquired the private company Eland Technologies, a provider of advanced solutions for the travel industry that has over 60 employees and is headquartered in Ireland, with offices in the UK and the USA. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Caption: Richard Stokes
Vice President,
Passenger and Travel Solutions,
SITA INC

Eland Technologies

is now part of SITA INC`s Passenger and Travel Solutions business unit - the leading provider of web-based applications and e-commerce integration services for the travel and transport sectors.

The Airline IT Trends Survey, conducted annually by SITA
and Airline Business across the top 200 carriers, has consistently shown that airlines consider a lack of IT people with an understanding of airline processes as one of the top three obstacles they face in achieving their IT strategy. Web experts that understand how to apply new technology effectively to the airline business are clearly in short supply.

“At a time when all involved in travel and transportation are looking to web technologies to help reduce costs and increase business process efficiencies, SITA is extremely pleased to be adding specialized middleware products and integration skills to complement and expand our capabilities,” said Francesco Violante, Managing Director, SITA INC. “The addition of competitive products and a strong customer base further bolsters SITA`s ability to deliver next generation services to support air transport organizations. It also greatly enhances the capability of SITA to help our customers to cut costs as they look to web-enable and transform their businesses.”

Robert Healy, Director of Technologies at Eland, said: “The capabilities we have built at Eland Technologies complement SITA`s global reach, its independence and strong position in the travel and transportation sectors. Joining SITA INC also greatly increases the professional opportunities for Eland employees”.

The acquisition enlarges the capabilities of SITA INC by adding highly skilled web-technologists from a company with a 13 year track record of the design, development and deployment of mission-critical, high-volume transaction software. Eland also brings a complementary customer list including: Abacus International, AeroMexico, American Airlines, Copa Airlines, EDS, Hotwire, Lufthansa Systems, Mexicana, Navigant, Rosenbluth International, Sabre, Star Alliance, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. These complement SITA INC`s Passenger and Travel Solutions customer base that includes companies such as Air France, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Carlson Wagonlit, Lufthansa, Priceline and Sears Travel, among many others.

SITA INC will support all Eland customers and develop Eland products including Runway, a leading travel application integration platform in use with numerous airlines, alliances and travel related companies worldwide.

“This combination adds a wealth of expertise in delivering applications for reservations, bookings, customer service systems and in integrating these with call centres and mobile technologies - all of which are in high demand in the sectors SITA INC supports. I look forward to the success of the enlarged business in the years ahead,” said Richard Stokes, Vice President, Passenger and Travel Solutions, SITA INC.

Related stories on ITN:

(30/04/2003) Eland Technologies Assists Hotwire in GDS Switch

(01/04/2003) easyJet Forms Initiative with AMT and Eland Technologies

(16/09/2003) Virgin Atlantic selects Eland Technologies

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