Amadeus, a leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, has inked a 10-year distribution agreement with 12 member airlines of Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO). The agreements will be effective from January 1, 2009.

Air Algérie, Afriqiyah Airways, EgyptAir, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Libyan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Sudan Airways, Syrian Arab Airlines, Tunisair and Yemen Airways - from the AACO - have signed up Amadeus as their exclusive distribution partner in their respective home markets.

These 12 leading airlines in the Middle East and North of Africa (Mena) account for 66 per cent of reservations made by travel agencies in the region.

Abdul Wahab Teffaha, AACO secretary general, said the agreement crowns almost 18 months of intensive negotiations with leading global distribution systems (GDSs).

"AACO’s strategy is to achieve the best possible cost and value structure for the airline members partnering with a leading-edge technology provider who has a strong global presence. This is the fourth contract of its kind in the past 17 years but by far the largest in terms of the number of AACO airlines involved and it delivers greater value for the signing carriers," Teffaha. 

"The selection of Amadeus by 12 of our member airlines is a recognition of the synergy that these airlines, in partnership with Amadeus, will bring to the travel agents in our part of the world."

"Amadeus solutions will equip our member airlines with excellent tools to bring customer-oriented distribution technology to the travel agents, who continue to be very important and long-term partners in the travel value chain."

"Six member airlines who have for the past seven years had a successful partnership with Amadeus, will now be joined by six additional member airlines, once their current distribution partnership expires at the end of 2008.”

David Jones, Amadeus’ executive vice president, commercial, said the agreements endorse our strategy to bring the most relevant airline content to travel agencies and also to provide the agents’ desktops with the latest technology.

"In addition, our infrastructure and continued investment in the region ensures we continue delivering the best on site support, to sustain the travel industry’s growth in the Middle-East, - one of the fastest growing regions of the world."

"Amadeus' global distribution reach and expertise paired with our comprehensive e-commerce and IT solutions offering are key to the success of our agreement with AACO."

Furthermore, our continued investment in technology and our partnership approach to business were a perfect fit for the airlines. The recent inauguration of our regional operation centre in Dubai is a reflection of our commitment to these markets and partners,” he added. 

Amadeus is a leading technology provider to the travel industry with over 94,100 travel agency locations and more than 32,500 airline sales offices using Amadeus to run their reservations and sales function.-TradeArabia News Service