The airline distribution division of Amadeus will launch a pilot solution with an unidentified European carrier in July that allows airlines to sell unbundled airfares through global distribution systems. It is the first of four pilots Amadeus intends to conduct across 10 countries.
Cyril Tetaz, head of marketing for airline distribution at Amadeus, said the new technology, named Amadeus Ancillary Services, will include the ability to load ancillary services into GDSs, enable catalogue shopping and booking and create a cancellation process.
However, whether all GDSs will be able to work with airlines using AAS is unclear. An Amadeus spokeswoman said her own company's GDS will support the new technology, but added, "the sales through other GDSs depend on their capacity to manage ancillary services with their point-of-sales front-office technology. We had to develop a lot of functionality to manage this through our own front office, such as adding a catalogue so that the Amadeus agent can navigate and easily book these services. These developments are dependent on each GDS, not the airline, nor Amadeus."
Sabre and Travelport are working hard on their own solutions that will enable travel management companies and online booking tools to book ancillary services through their GDSs. Last week, Travelport deputy group CEO Gordon Wilson
told EuroBTN the company will pilot a new front-office system this summer that is capable of handling unbundled services through application programming interface connections.
The big breakthrough the entire travel industry is waiting for is the launch of the electronic miscellaneous document standard, expected in the third quarter of this year. Described by Tetaz as "like an e-ticket for ancillary fees," it is a document that will enable the reconciliation of unbundled charges with the original flight booking and provide a mechanism for furnishing corporate clients with management information. Tetaz said AAS will use virtual miscellaneous charge orders as a workaround until EMDs are ready.