Amadeus Business Keeps Rolling with Record Highs

Total bookings grew by 6.7 percent to 281.5m for Amadeus with online air bookings growing by 20.4 percent and now represent 17.4 percent of total air bookings according to the business results for the six months ending 30 June 2007 released by the company.

Amadeus had 32.9 percent of the market in travel agency air bookings in the first half of 2007, up 2.4 percentage points year-on-year. Total revenue grew by 11.0 percent to €1,534.1 million.

Amadeus signed low-fare content agreements with over 150 airlines in 2007. Amadeus has a specific program for the European market, Amadeus Full Content Option, under which 71 airlines guarantee access to their complete public inventory of flights and fares with no GDS surcharge on these bookings. Travel agents can now also access the content of 52 low-cost carriers in Amadeus.

Hoteliers around the world continue to respond to the value Amadeus channels add. Amadeus has added over 5,000 properties since October 2006, taking the total to 75,000 globally. 2,000 new additions were independent and boutique properties not usually available on electronic distribution systems.

Over 130 brands are now members of Amadeus’ Best Available Rate program, while its commission tracking initiative has received strong industry support. Over 20 major hotel chains have already signed up to the Amadeus Worldwide Commission Manager.

Amadeus e-Cruise, a travel agency and consumer cruise-booking platform for the US, gained its 11th travel agency customer. In addition, cruise lines continued to make use of the reach of Amadeus Cruise, a global travel agency cruise booking tool, to take their offer to new international markets: during the period, MSC Cruises launched in North America and Scandinavia; Star Cruises and Holland America Line launched in the UK; Norwegian Cruise Lines launched in France and Costa Cruise Lines launched in Ireland.