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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