Star Alliance Developing Corporate Self-Booking Tool

Star Alliance is preparing to launch a corporate online booking tool that will compete head-on with such supplier-agnostic tools as GetThere, KDS and Amadeus E-Travel Management. Dirk Verhoeven, director of online sales, development and operation for Lufthansa, said the tool will be launched at the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007. It will be aimed at the large corporate market as well as small and medium enterprises. "We see the possibility of a new opportunity provided by the airlines," he said.

Among the potential benefits for clients will be small additional discounts on Star Alliance fares and the ability to book private corporate fares negotiated with the alliance's member airlines.

Verhoeven added that Lufthansa, which appears to be leading the project, has been studying the corporate processes surrounding a self-booking tool. These include how to integrate a tool with SAP and other enterprise resource planning systems. It already has carried out some tests with customers.

The tool will be launched as an expanded version of Lufthansa's PartnerPlusBenefit program, which is branded outside Germany as Star Alliance Company Plus. In its present incarnation, the program is essentially a loyalty scheme that awards mileage to the corporate customer for use by travelers.

Verhoeven said the new booking tool will be usable with all global distribution systems, helping to make it appropriate for all national markets. Asked if buyers would be attracted to a booking tool only offering the inventory of Star Alliance carriers, he responded that anticipated deregulation of the GDS market in Europe could lead to airlines withdrawing from some GDSs. This would make it hard for travel management companies to offer full content. "We think using two or three systems could be a problem for everyone," he said.