MOSCOW and SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 23,
2005–Aeroflot Russian Airlines announced today the successful
migration of the carrier and its affiliated travel agencies to a
comprehensive booking and ticketing solution from Sabre Airline
Solutions. The new technology is provided by SabreSonic, the
industry’s first and only new generation reservations and passenger
management solution, along with a customized version of the Sabre
distribution system for Aeroflot affiliated travel agents. This new
end-to-end distribution offering significantly advances the state of
travel for the carrier and for Russia within the region and worldwide.
SabreSonic is state-of-the-art technology with a powerful client
base – over 100 airlines worldwide which board more than 300 million
passengers a year. SabreSonic customers include major international
carriers such as American Airlines and US Airways and other carriers
worldwide. In 2004, eight new carriers, including Aeroflot, chose this
new technology for its customer-focused solution, flexibility and
reliability – all made possible through the open systems approach.
“Aeroflot’s objective for the future is to continue making use of
the most advanced and efficient technologies which exist in the
industry,” said Eugene Bachurin, Aeroflot commercial director. “For
this reason, we chose Sabre’s technology package. Sabre provides more
flexibility in the areas of air travel reservation and sales and
ticketing than any other offering currently available while at the
same time ensuring maximum efficiency from both the travel agents and
the airline sales offices. In addition, the new technology offers a
variety of new functions which will benefit Aeroflot and travel
agencies and will help to improve customer service.”
Today’s migration involved switching all current reservation
records from Aeroflot’s current technology (provided by SITA) for its
inventory system for airline tickets reservation and sales to
SabreSonic. More than 300,000 passenger records were successfully
switched in 31 minutes during the conversion; over 10,000+ records a
minute. Additionally, Sabre provided new technology and services for
passenger departure control at the Sheremetievo airport and a
customized distribution system for Aeroflot appointed travel agents
(My Sabre Aeroflot). Aeroflot has renewed approximately 500 travel
agency agreements in Russia and abroad in the scope of activities of
providing My Sabre Aeroflot customized distribution system to its
affiliated agencies.
The training on the new distribution technology for Aeroflot
personnel and the affiliated travel agencies was conducted in 16
training facilities including three centers in Moscow; nine regional
training centers (Saint-Petersburg, Tumen, Samara, Ekaterinburg,
Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Omsk, Vladivostok, Rostov-on-Don) and four
centers abroad (Hamburg, Rome, Los-Angeles and London). To date, over
3,000 people have been trained in the centers and classes and
additional remote training has been provided with Cyrillic (Russian)
support via CD-ROM and Internet.
The transition to the new reservation and ticketing system
required modernization of the existing hardware and testing of the
existing terminal connections, as well as installation of the new
ones. More than 1,500 Sabre terminals have been installed in Aeroflot
offices and about 5,500 in the Aeroflot affiliated agencies.
Noting the significance of the switch to the new technology
package from Sabre, Gianni Marostica, president of Sabre Airline
Solutions, said, “This cutover has huge implications for Aeroflot and
its role as a major international airline as well as advancing
customer-oriented travel services within Russia. The Sabre team
recognized the importance of this accomplishment and dedicated itself
to making it successful. We are pleased that our new generation
solution was ready for Aeroflot to implement in the timeframe it
required rather than depending on promises of future developments, and
the successful cutover today does truly separate us from our
competitors’ rhetoric in this regard. We congratulate Aeroflot’s Sabre
team on a great achievement for the industry.”
Aeroflot customers will experience many benefits from the new
technology from Sabre. They will be able to take advantage of the
ability to directly book travel worldwide including airlines, car
rental agencies, cruises, tour operators and rail outside of Russia –
made possible through the customized distribution solution for travel
agents. Agents also will be able to take advantage of automation of
many tasks that had required manual input with the previous
technology. Aeroflot’s airport and reservations agents also will be
able to provide significantly improved customer service with better
integrated information about a traveler’s itinerary, past trips on the
airline and future reservations – in essence treating passengers as
customers rather than transactions. As part of the technology package,
Aeroflot also implemented software to improve Aeroflot Bonus, the
carrier’s passenger reward program. Aeroflot also will be implementing
the latest customer self-service technology which allows travelers to
manage the way they shop for travel options and introduce new options
for ticketing and check in.
For the airline, the new technology will significantly reduce
Aeroflot’s distribution costs, streamline operations and play a key
role in its plans for growth in the international market. Some
examples include increased efficiency through automation, reduction of
costs through reduced training and increased flexibility for the
future with the open systems/service oriented architecture that
provides the ability to easily add new functionality and capabilities
and reduces time to market for the new functionality, as well as the
ability to adapt to market needs through different types of
operational models. In addition to the savings and revenue potential
made possible through the reservations and distribution technology,
Aeroflot also will achieve up to three percent additional revenue from
the integration of Sabre’s revenue management technology that Aeroflot
had previously installed. Revenue integrity software will provide
fraud control, providing significant savings from lost revenue. Other
software will help the Aeroflot plan and optimize its air loads, which
help save fuel costs, increasingly important in current market
conditions. Sabre also will be enabling technology solutions for
Aeroflot’s participation in the SkyTeam alliance.
Travel agents will greatly benefit from the new customized
distribution solution. MySabre Aeroflot is a distribution solution new
to the Russian market, and will provide all the Aeroflot affiliated
travel agencies unlimited access to the Sabre system’s resources with
a new range of capabilities and services. In particular, it provides
booking services for travel worldwide on all kinds of transport; it
enables access to hotel properties, car companies, cruise lines,
railroads and tour operators. This customized solution for the
Aeroflot travel agents includes requirements of the local market and
contains screens, prompts and instructions with Cyrillic support.
According to Sergey Kiryushin, Aeroflot Deputy Director General,
IT department director, Sabre Airline Solutions is planning to also
implement an Internet Booking Engine, which will provide the ability
for travelers to directly book and ticket travel on Aeroflot’s
website. “We are also working to get the airline ready for the
transition to e-ticketing. The only outstanding issue in terms of this
transition is the current legal restriction on e-tickets issuance in
Russia. However, hopefully this issue will also be resolved to
introduce this capability to the Russian marketplace.”
About Aeroflot Russian Airlines
JSC Aeroflot-Russian Airlines (PTC: AFLT) is the largest Russian
airline and flag carrier. The State owns 51% of the company stock. It
was founded in 1923. Aeroflot controls about 11% of the domestic and
39% of the International air travel market in Russia. The net revenue
in 2003 made 3 978 million rubles ($1 = about 28 roubles).. Based on
the financial characteristics Aeroflot was included in the list of 25
leading international carriers (according to ATW data). In 2004
Aeroflot flew 6,8 million passengers. The aircraft fleet contains 86
aircraft. Aeroflot is based in Moscow, in Sheremetievo airport. By
2007 the airline is planning to build Aeroflot own terminal –
Sheremetievo-3. Further information can be found at Aeroflot Web sites
www.aeroflot.ru, www.aeroflotbonus.ru.
About Sabre Airline Solutions
Sabre Airline Solutions, a Sabre Holdings company, is the world’s
largest provider of software products; reservations, departure control
systems and other passenger management systems; and consulting
services that help airlines simplify operations and lower costs. Sabre
Airline Solutions’ proven leadership is demonstrated by the growing
number of airlines that leverage the technology and services: More
than 200 airlines worldwide use Sabre Airline Solutions’ broad
portfolio of smart solutions for decision-support tools to increase
revenues and improve operations. More than 500 contracts worldwide
were signed in 2004 for Sabre Airline Solutions’ leading technology
solutions. More than 100 airlines worldwide rely on Sabre Airline
Solutions for passenger management solutions, with eight new carriers
choosing SabreSonic, the first new generation reservations system
offered in the market, in 2004 and six carrier renewals. In addition,
more than 100 clients worldwide have turned to the Sabre Airline
Solutions consulting group for strategic, commercial and operational
consulting.
Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE: TSG) is a world leader in travel
commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and
technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about
Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.
Sabre Airline Solutions, the Sabre Airline Solutions logo,
SabreSonic and MySabre are trademarks and/or service marks of an
affiliate of Sabre Holdings Corporation. All other trademarks, service
marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
(c) 2005 Sabre, Inc. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: Sabre Airline Solutions
Media Relations:
Kathryn Hayden, 682-605-2252
kathryn.hayden@sabre-holdings.com
http://www.sabre-holdings.com
or
Media Relations:
Aeroflot Russian Airlines, (095) 903 98 20
presscentr@aeroflot.ru
SOURCE: Sabre Airline Solutions and Aeroflot Russian Airlines