Travelling the world has just got easier with the launch of a revolution booking tool developed by Innovata for oneworld®. This makes oneworld® the first alliance in the world to let passengers book round-the-world tickets directly online.Innovata’s SRS FLight Maps Service is a state-of-the-art tool that shows the entire network of direct flights and connection routings for all member airlines in the oneworld alliance - ten full members and some 20 affiliates, offering 9,000 departures a day on a network serving almost 700 destinations in 150 countries.

The service enables travellers to plan, cost, book and validate a round-the-world itinerary all from the comfort of their PC, thereby avoiding the need to then book a journey via an agent. The mapping application features coded rules and regulations coded so travellers can ensure they are planning a valid itinerary, thereby saving valuable time before booking.

Richard Thorne, Managing Director Business Development worldwide for Innovata, said, “We are very proud to have played an integral part in helping facilitate this latest initiative of oneworld. It is a major and dramatic step forward in helping to make round-the-world trip planning easier and more convenient for travellers with all the rules and regulations coded into the mapping application itself so oneworld’s customers can be sure they are planning a valid itinerary, segment by segment, before checking availability, fares and then booking via oneworld.com or the member airlines websites.”

Innovata first joined forces with oneworld® five years ago and has developed a range of online timetable and mapping services for the alliance, culminating in this latest iteration of its SRS Flight Maps service. This enables travellers to plan round-the-world itineraries, and obtain a fare quote, check availability and book online for up to 16 segment itineraries.

Innovata has partnered with Amadeus in providing this integrated solution to oneworld® - with Innovata providing the front-end map based GUI to plan and validate itineraries, and Amadeus providing auto-pricing, availability checks, booking and e-ticketing.

Innovata is recognized as a global leader in travel and hospitality content management and distribution solutions. As a partner of IATA in marketing the Schedule Reference Service (SRS) to the industry, Innovata maintains one of the world’s largest flight databases representing more than 99% of the air segment miles flown worldwide with over 900 airlines participating in the database. Approximately 90% of the database is refreshed every week.

Founded in 1999, oneworld® unites some of the best and biggest names in the airline industry such as Cathay Pacific, British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia, Qantas and Japan Airlines. Last month it was named the “World’s Leading Airline Alliance” for the sixth consecutive year at the World Travel Awards 2008 Grand Final.
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