SITA and Airline Business will host the

2005 Airline IT Summit on June 23rd - 24th at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel

and Towers following the SITA S.C. 2005 Annual General Assembly. Attracting

200 airline executives last year, the Summit will bring together senior IT

decision-makers from the world’s leading airlines to debate the future of

airline IT.  The event is free to all airlines completing this year’s

‘Airline IT Trends Survey’,  and for SITA Members and customers. For

registration and further information see http://www.sita.aero/brussels2005.

Rod Eddington,  Chief Executive Officer, British Airways, will open the IT

Summit, followed by a preview of the results of the seventh annual ‘Airline

IT Trends Survey’ currently being conducted across the top 200 airlines. In

two panel sessions, airline executives will be looking at two key aspects

of simplification:  airline operations,  including the optimization of

communication infrastructure,  and services provided to travellers such as

self-service check-in.  Three parallel sessions will follow, exploring

opportunities   for   IT-driven   simplification   beyond   the five IATA

initiatives,  showcasing   recent   examples   of successful e-ticketing

migrations and look at how simplification is gaining a foothold at airports

across the world.

 

Paul Coby,  Chairman,  SITA Group and Chief Information Officer, British

Airways, said: “Information Technology is the industry’s password to accede

to substantial cost savings as the world’s airlines intensify their efforts

to meet the objective of Simplifying the Business. This year’s IT Summit

will yet again create a unique platform for senior airline IT executives to

share best practices, and also to discuss opportunities to further simplify

the airline business through IT. I look forward to welcoming the global

airline IT community to a stimulating Summit in June.”

 

Peter Buecking,  SITA President, added: “In its sixth year, the Airline IT

Summit today is the annual reference event for airline IT executives.

Hosting the event jointly with the leading industry magazine Airline

Business,  we consider the Summit an important facet of SITA’s community

role. More than ever, the industry has a vital interest in collaborating to

avoid costly duplication in areas where product differentiation is not

meaningful,  most prominently Information Technology. The IT Summit serves

this important purpose in a unique way:  fostering collaboration and

information exchange to the benefit of all members of the global air

transport community.”

 

Kevin O’Toole, Editor Airline Business, who will introduce the theme of the

event commented:  “It is rewarding to see simplification of the business

taking central stage,  as SITA and Airline Business have been championing

the case from the outset of our co-operation seven years ago. The strategic

importance of IT for the business has been confirmed through its central

role in Simplifying the Business. Both the Airline IT Trends survey and the

IT Summit will track industry progress in this initiative, and establish

the industry benchmarks required to measure individual success.”

 

The confirmed list of international speakers will be announced in the

coming weeks.
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