Aeroflot Russian
Airlines announced that it has signed a contract with Sabre Airline
Solutions for a state-of-the-art technology portfolio. The core of this
advanced technology solution is the SabreSonic suite, which includes
passenger reservations, a web site that allows potential travelers to shop
and book travel on Aeroflot, and airport check-in along with a number of
other key passenger service modules. The comprehensive offering also will
provide Russian travel agencies with full access to the world’s leading
global distribution system, providing the first ability to directly book
travel worldwide including airlines, car rental agencies, cruises, tour
operators and rail outside of Russia. Industry studies indicate that the Russian marketplace is poised for
growth and the Russian travel industry will benefit from this growth. In a
world of contracting economies, Russia has been experiencing economic
growth of 4 percent to 8 percent in recent years and inflation also is on
the decrease. Russian airline travel is expected to also grow both
regionally and internationally. Forecasted growth in the airline traffic
ranges from 60 percent to 100 percent comparing 2002 to 2010. While there
were 28 million passengers boarded in 2003, there have been estimates that
this number could grow to over 100 million by 2015.

The announcement between Aeroflot and Sabre Airline Solutions helps to
position the carrier for this growth and follows several years of
successful business between the two companies that began when Aeroflot
began leveraging software from Sabre Airline Solutions to automate and
streamline its operations in 1997.

“Aeroflot was determined to get the most advanced and effective
technologies in the industry,” said Eugene Bachurin, Commercial Director
for Aeroflot. “It is for this reason we chose the Sabre Airline Solutions
technology package. Their solutions are the only ones that will provide
both flexibility for our clients’ selling, booking and ticketing airline
travel, as well as maximizing productivity for agents. In addition, the
new technology will provide many new features both for Aeroflot and travel
agents as well as our passengers.”

“We are extremely excited to be taking such an active role in advancing
the state of travel in Russia,” said Tom Klein, group president of Sabre
Airline Solutions. “We recognize that Aeroflot is poised for significant
growth and we are looking forward to helping them leverage our new
generation technology solutions to accomplish and manage this growth.”

The comprehensive technology package that Sabre Airline Solutions will be
implementing at Aeroflot provides technology suites for reservations and
associated passenger services, GDS access and optimization solutions.
These three core technologies include:

—SabreSonic, the travel industry’s first new generation reservations and
passenger processing solution, built on open systems to provide unmatched
flexibility, integration and implementation of the latest technologies in
the market.—Access to the world’s leading global distribution system
that combined with the SabreSonic suite provides the most complete end-to-
end solution to shop, book, price and manage travel.—New operational
technology solutions to enhance Aeroflot’s frequent flyer program
(Aeroflot Bonus), and to help the airline plan and optimize air loads—
which also helps save fuel costs, increasingly important in current market
conditions.

The agreement with Aeroflot will open an entire new offering for travel
agencies that currently book Aeroflot flights. These agencies, that
previously only had access to Aeroflot’s inventory, now also will have
access to the Sabre global distribution system (GDS), the world’s largest
and most advanced distribution system, for booking Aeroflot flights.

SabreSonic includes robust solutions for alliance support—including
technology to support codeshare agreements with alliance members, frequent
flyer programs, shared electronic ticketing information and more. This
capability will ensure smooth and seamless travel experience for
passengers connecting with partner airlines.

“The breadth of the offering from Sabre Airline Solutions provides an
integrated solution across all of our operations. In fact, we believe the
technology solution they have packaged for Aeroflot offers benefits that
are unmatched in the industry,” said Sergey Kiryushin, Aeroflot’s chief
information officer. “This smart technology means improvements to our
operations and that means better results to our bottom line and improved
service to our customers.”

An additional phase of implementation of the Sabre Airline Solutions
Aeroflot technology suite will launch new customer-focused passenger
solution features made possible through SabreSonic, such as a powerful
web-based booking engine that will introduce online shopping functionality
for Aeroflot. eCommerce and online booking for travel is growing
exponentially worldwide, and this product suite introduction from Sabre
Airline Solutions will provide a new paradigm in the Russian marketplace.
In fact, SabreSonic provides Aeroflot with the most versatile check-in
options in the industry.

“In short, with SabreSonic, Aeroflot can provide a whole new level of
service to Aeroflot’s passengers,” Klein added. “We have made sure that we
developed a passenger solution that is focused on passengers. And we made
sure we had the right technology to allow for a very adaptable system that
can keep pace with changes in the way people travel.”

According to Bachurin at Aeroflot, “The most exciting part about this new
technology package is that it will help advance the travel industry in
Russia.”
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