SUN 2.2.2014 Computer reservations system A computer reservations system or central reservation system[1] (CRS) is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or activities. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies. Major CRS operations that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines are known as global distribution systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies,[2] who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet gateways. Modern GDSes typically allow users to book hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets as well as activities and tours. They also provide access to railway reservations and bus reservations in some markets, although these are not always integrated with the main system. Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.2 Remote access 1.3 Travel agent access 2 Major systems 3 Trends 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links History Origins In 1946, American Airlines installed the first automated booking system, the experimental electromechanical Reservisor. A newer machine with temporary storage based on a magnetic drum, the Magnetronic Reservisor, soon followed. This system proved successful, and was soon being used by several airlines, as well as Sheraton Hotels and Goodyear for inventory control. It was seriously hampered by the need for local human operators to do the actual lookups; ticketing agents would have to call a booking office, whose operators would direct a small team operating the Reservisor and then read the results over the telephone. There was no way for agents to directly query the system.[citation needed] Remote access In 1953, Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) started investigating a computer-based system with remote terminals, testing one design on the University of Torontos Manchester Mark 1 machine that summer. Though successful, the researchers found that input and output was a major problem. Ferranti Canada became involved in the project and suggested a new system using punched cards and a transistorized computer in place of the unreliable tube-based Mark I. The resulting system, ReserVec, started operation in 1962, and took over all booking operations in January 1963. Terminals were placed in all of TCAs ticketing offices, allowing all queries and bookings to complete in about one second with no remote operators needed. In 1953, American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith chanced to sit next to R. Blair Smith, a senior IBM sales representative, on a flight from Los Angeles to New York. C.R. invited Blair to visit their Reservisor system and look for ways that IBM could improve the system. Blair alerted Thomas Watson Jr. that American was interested in a major collaboration, and a series of low-level studies started. Their idea of an automated airline reservation system (ARS) resulted in a 1959 venture known as the Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE), launched the following year.[3] By the time the network was completed in December 1964, it was the largest civil data processing system in the world. Other airlines established their own systems. Delta Air Lines launched the Delta Automated Travel Account System (DATAS) in 1968. United Airlines and Trans World Airlines followed in 1971 with the Apollo Reservation System and Programmed Airline Reservation System (PARS), respectively. Soon, travel agents began pushing for a system that could automate their side of the process by accessing the various ARSes directly to make reservations. Fearful this would place too much power in the hands of agents, American Airlines executive Robert Crandall proposed creating an industry-wide computer reservation system to be a central clearing house for U.S. travel; other airlines demurred, citing fear of antitrust prosecution. Travel agent access In 1976, United began offering its Apollo system to travel agents; while it would not allow the agents to book tickets on Uniteds competitors, the marketing value of the convenient terminal proved indispensable. SABRE, PARS, and DATAS were soon released to travel agents as well. Following airline deregulation in 1978, an efficient CRS proved particularly important; by some counts, Texas Air executive Frank Lorenzo purchased money-losing Eastern Air Lines specifically to gain control of its SystemOne CRS. Also in 1976 Videcom international with British Airways, British Caledonian and CCL launched Travicom, the worlds first multi-access reservations system (wholly based on Videcom technology), forming a network providing distribution for initially 2 and subsequently 49 subscribing international airlines (including British Airways, British Caledonian, TWA, Pan American World Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, SAS, Air Canada, KLM, Alitalia, Cathay Pacific and JAL) to thousands of travel agents in the UK. It allowed agents and airlines to communicate via a common distribution language and network, handling 97% of UK airline business trade bookings by 1987. The system went on to be replicated by Videcom in other areas of the world including the Middle East (DMARS), New Zealand, Kuwait (KMARS), Ireland, Caribbean, United States and Hong Kong. Travicom was a trading name for Travel Automation Services Ltd. When BA (who by then owned 100% of Travel Automation Services Ltd) chose to participate in the development of the Galileo system Travicom changed its trading name to Galileo UK and a migration process was put in place to move agencies from Travicom to Galileo. European airlines also began to invest in the field in the 1980s initially by deploying their own reservation systems in their homeland, propelled by growth in demand for travel as well as technological advances which allowed GDSes to offer ever-increasing services and searching power. In 1987, a consortium led by Air France and West Germanys Lufthansa developed Amadeus, modeled on SystemOne. Amadeus Global Travel Distribution was launched in 1992. In 1990, Delta, Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines formed Worldspan, and in 1993, another consortium (including British Airways, KLM, and United Airlines, among others) formed the competing company Galileo International based on Apollo. Numerous smaller companies such as KIU have also formed, aimed at niche markets not catered for by the four largest networks, including the low-cost carrier segment, and small and medium size domestic and regional airlines. Major systems Name Created by Used by the following airlines Also used by ameliaRES InteliSys Aviation Systems Over 20 low-cost carriers and regional airlines Several large corporations Takeflite Takeflite Solutions Over 50 low-cost carriers and regional airlines UNHAS Abacus All Nippon Airways Cathay Pacific Airways China Airlines Dragonair EVA Airways Garuda Indonesia Malaysia Airlines Philippine Airlines Royal Brunei Airlines SABRE SilkAir Singapore Airlines All Nippon Airways China Airlines Malaysia Airlines Philippine Airlines Online travel agencies Over 450 individual airlines Over 25 countries in Asia Pacific Over 80,000 hotels AccelAero ISA (Information Systems Associates)] Air Arabia Mahan Air Zest Air KAM Air Over 14 airlines including low-cost carriers and full service carriers Amadeus (1987) Air France Iberia Airlines Lufthansa Scandinavian Airlines System Adria Airways Aegean Airlines Air Astana Air Berlin Air Caraïbes Air Corsica Air Côte dIvoire Air Dolomiti Air France Air Greenland Air Mauritius Air Pacific Air Serbia Air Vanuatu airBaltic Aircalin Asiana Airlines Austrian Airlines Binter Canarias Blue1 British Airways British Midland International Bulgaria Air Camair-Co Cathay Pacific Cimber Sterling Corsairfly Croatia Airlines Czech Airlines Dragonair EgyptAir El Al Estonian Air EVA Airways Finnair Garuda Indonesia HexAir Hunnu Air Iberia Icelandair Jin Air KLM LACSA Libyan Airlines LOT Polish Airlines Lufthansa Middle East Airlines Mihin Lanka Montenegro Airlines Niki OpenSkies PLUNA Qantas Qatar Airways Rossiya Royal Air Maroc Royal Brunei Airlines Royal Jordanian Safi Airways SATA Air Açores SATA International Saudi Arabian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines SilkAir Singapore Airlines South African Airways SriLankan Airlines TACA Airlines TAM Airlines TAM Mercosur TAP Portugal Toumaï Air Tchad Trans Air Congo Tunisair Twin Jet Uni Air Ural Airlines Widerøe XL Airways France 144 Airline Passenger Service System Customers through 60,000 airline sales offices worldwide 90,000 travel agencies worldwide, both offline and online, in 195 countries. Online agencies include: MakeMyTrip Expedia CheapOair ebookers CheapTickets Opodo Jetabroad 440 bookable airlines (including over 60 Low Cost Carriers) Over 100,000 unique hotel properties 30 Car rental companies representing over 36,000 car rental locations 21 Cruise Lines 203 Tour Operators 103 Rail Operators 23 Travel Insurance Companies Axess Japan Airlines Internet Booking Engine Mercator Qatar Airways Sri Lankan Airlines SAS Braathens Over 3 individual airlines --> KIU AeroGal Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Air Cuenca Avolar CATA Línea Aérea EasyFly Guinea Líneas Aéreas Interair South Africa LADE LAER LASER Airlines LC Busre Línea Aérea Amaszonas Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano MAYAir Peruvian Airlines Regional Paraguaya SAEREO Sol América Sol Líneas Aéreas Southern Winds Airlines Star Perú Tiara Air Transportes Aéreos Cielos Andinos Venezolana VIP Ecuador Over 20 individual airlines Over 10 countries in Latin America,North America, Africa and Europe Travel agencies and wholesale tour operators worldwide Mercator Emirates Air Algérie Air Malawi Air Pacific Air Tanzania Air Transat Air Zimbabwe Citilink CTK – CiTylinK Comair Danube Wings Emirates flydubai InterSky Kuwait Airways Malaysia Airlines Merpati Nusantara Airlines Pakistan International Airlines Peoples Viennaline Philippine Airlines Safi Airways Sky Work Airlines Surinam Airways Syrian Air Yemenia Zest Airways Navitaire 1Time Aer Arann AirAsia AirAsia X Air Greenland Air Mekong AirTran Airways Airlink Alliance Airlines Amerijet International Azul Brazilian Airlines Batavia Air Blue Air bmibaby CanJet Cebu Pacific Cobham Aviation Services Australia Eastar Jet Firefly germanwings Gol Transportes Aéreos IndiGo Interjet Jazeera Airways Jet4you Jetstar Airways Jetstar Asia Airways Jetstar Pacific Airlines LIAT Lion Air Mandala Airlines Monarch Airlines Nas Air Nok Air Porter Airlines Ryanair Skywest Airlines Spirit Airlines SpiceJet Strategic Airlines Tiger Airways Transavia TUIfly Thomas Cook Airlines Wizz Air PARS/SHARES by EDS Air Nigeria Brussels Airlines COPA Airlines Flybe Hawaii Island Air Swiss International Air Lines United Airlines US Airways Virgin Atlantic Airways Patheo Finnair KLM Lufthansa Online travel agencies including Airgorrila American Express Anyfares Flights Radixx Aerocon Air Choice One Air Iceland Air India Express Air Rarotonga Air Turks & Caicos BMI Regional Dana Air Eznis Federal Air Fly Jamaica Fly Dubai Freedom Air Guam Go Air Great Lakes Aviation Gryphon JetUs Lydd Air Mokulele Nature Air Polynesian Primera Air Rotana Jet Seaport Airlines Starbow Syphax Airlines Transat Tours Sabre (1960) American Airlines Aeroflot Aerolíneas Argentinas Aeroméxico Air Jamaica Air Malta Air Tahiti Nui Alaska Airlines American Airlines Avior Airlines Bahamasair Bangkok Airways Canadian North Central Mountain Air Comair (South Africa) Cyprus Airways Era Alaska Ethiopian Airlines Etihad Airways First Air Frontier Airlines Gulf Air Hawaiian Airlines Jet Airways JetBlue Airways Kenya Airways Kingfisher Airlines kulula LAN Airlines LAN Argentina LAN Ecuador LAN Perú Midwest Airlines PenAir Oman Air TRIP Linhas Aéreas Vietnam Airlines Virgin America Virgin Australia Volaris WestJet Online Travel Agencies: Travelocity zuji Lastminute Travel Guru Priceline Schedules for 400 airlines 380 airline industry customers, including 44 airlines representing all major alliances 88,000 hotels 50 rail carriers 180 tour operators 13 cruise lines 24 car rental brands serving 30,000 locations 9 limousine vendors providing access to more than 33,500 ground service providers 55,000 travel agencies in over 100 countries TravelSky Africa World Airlines Air China Air Macau China Eastern Airlines China Southern Airlines Hainan Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Express Airways Shandong Airlines Shanghai Airlines Sichuan Airlines Online travel agencies including Ctrip eLong mangocity Travelport GDS Includes Apollo (1971), Galileo (1987) and Worldspan (1990) Apollo: United Airlines. Galileo: British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Alitalia, Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Olympic Airways, Sabena, TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus. Worldspan: Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines (Northwest Airlines merged with Delta Air Lines which uses Deltamatic), Trans World Airlines (Merged with American Airlines which currently uses Sabre). BookIt CheapOair ebookers Expedia Flight Centre Hotels Hotwire Orbitz Priceline Trailfinders Webjet Travel Agencies Online Travel Services Airlines Corporations WorldTicket Sell-More-Seats WorldTicket Over 30 regional and medium sized airlines globally Sabre Holdings was purchased by private investors Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group on March 30, 2007, for about US$5 billion. Full year 2008 Sabre Holdings revenues were about US$3 billion. In December 2006, Travelport, which owns Galileo, agreed to buy and merge with the Worldspan GDS. The combined company would then control a 46.3% market share using 2002 airline booking data. Worldspans market share is 16.9% globally and 31% in the U.S. according to 2006 MIDT airline transaction data. In March 2007, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines switched from its own reservations system (CORDA) to Amadeus as a result of the merger with Air France. In February 2010, JetBlue converted its reservation system over to the SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service platform. Trends For many years the GDSs had a dominant position in the travel industry. To bypass the GDS and avoid high GDS fees, airlines have started to distribute flights directly from their websites.[4] Another possibility to bypass the GDS are direct connections to the Travel Agencies. American Airlines direct connects are a prominent example of this development.[5]
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:50:08 +0000