Etihad Airways has entered into a ten-year strategic partnership with SITA.

The multi-million dollar agreement will provide the airline with the latest global infrastructure solutions, while reducing the cost and complexity of IT.

Over the decade, SITA will deliver infrastructure and end-user computing solutions powered by the Air Transport Industry Cloud, which will ensure up-to-date services are continually available as Etihad expands its global presence.

Etihad is also adopting new innovative services including SITA CrewTablet, which its cabin crew will use to access passenger and operational data via tablets.

In addition, SITA is working with the airline to establish new connectivity solutions at airport gates to enable the most efficient management of Etihad’s next-generation aircraft.

“Etihad Airways has enjoyed a productive partnership with SITA since our establishment in 2003.

“We continue to work together on evolving and new technology which not only will reduce our costs and increase our productivity, but also will contribute to improvements in the service we continue to offer to our guests,” said James Hogan, chief executive, Etihad.

“Our pioneering business model, based on growth through partnership, has seen us invest in five other airlines and initiate discussions to invest in a sixth, making the SITA partnership even more important as we seek technology solutions which will meet our own requirements and increasingly those of our equity airline partners.

“SITA’s extensive portfolio of infrastructure services can be tailored to our specific needs and most importantly can be deployed quickly across SITA’s global network to support our continued international expansion.”

SITA is providing IT services across Etihad’s global network of 89 destinations, as well as its hub in Abu Dhabi.

This includes computing solutions powered by the ATI Cloud, including Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), which provides a flexible replacement for traditional PCs in remote office environments, and separate Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), which offers scalable, on-demand computing solutions.

SITA is also providing onsite support for Etihad’s end-user IT equipment located at their global offices and outstations.