Press Releases 2007

Austrian Airlines Joins Star Alliance Common IT Platform

Star Alliance member carrier Austrian Airlines today announced the replacement of its inventory and check-in systems with the Star Alliance Common IT Platform (CITP). CITP is a joint centralised platform hosted by Amadeus for participating Star Alliance member carriers. Alongside Lufthansa and United and regional member carriers Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines, Austrian Airlines is now launching a comprehensive migration project to oversee the staged transfer of all key airline IT systems, including inventory, ticketing and check-in, to the new platform by mid-2009.

Airlines within the Star Alliance currently use their own reservation and handling systems. To make it possible for passengers to travel with a range of different Star Alliance airlines, however, the various systems need to be able to communicate with one another. To achieve this, interfaces are put in place, which normally involve costs for the airlines in question. The new CITP replaces these interfaces, since the members will be able to access a joint platform in future.

”With Austrian’s decision to join the CITP initiative, more Star Alliance member airlines will be able to serve our joint customers in a more uniformed manner and provide them enhanced service. Furthermore, it will enable Austrian to reduce their current and future development efforts, commented Aman Khan, Star Alliance VP Information Technology. “This is a major step forward for CITP, Star Alliance and for Austrian Airlines.”

Rainer Pichler, VP Austrian IT Services said the following about the benefits of the CITP: “With Amadeus as provider, we can lower our unit costs in order to significantly reduce both the ongoing costs of our IT development and maintenance and the costs of reservation systems. This will enable us to simplify business processes in many of our divisions, and adapt these to meet a contemporary standard. Because Austrian is joining this initiative with other Star Alliance members such as Lufthansa and United, the companies will be able to maintain their existing process optimisation, while the removal of interfaces will let Austrian realise improvements in the service range for its customers more quickly and efficiently than ever before.”

Hans Jorgensen, VP Strategic Airline and Partner Programmes at Amadeus noted: “Austrian Airlines exemplifies a growing number of carriers turning to more flexible, new generation technology, to facilitate better alliance integration, improve customer service and maximise operational efficiencies.  As the market becomes more complex, it is important that all airlines can trust their IT systems to deliver unfailingly on their changing needs, irrespective of whether they are full-service, network or regional players.”

The Austrian Airlines Group took its first step towards harmonising services for customers of the Austrian Airlines Group and Lufthansa in 2000, since when it has used the same booking and handling systems as Lufthansa. In order to use the CITP project synergies as far as possible, it is to be implemented together with Lufthansa.

In a first step to take place at the end of 2007, the heart of any airline, its inventory system, will be migrated. Working approximately one year in advance, all 150,000 flights of the Austrian Airlines Group, including the appropriate seating capacities, flight times, etc., will be mapped into this system. In the next step, the ticketing system and the check-in system will also be operating on the new platform by 2009. During implementation of the Common IT Platform, over 15,000 staff days will be necessary in the next years to complete the ambitious project successfully. Austrian Airlines will then not only be prepared to better cooperate with the Star Alliance members, but also within the big Amadeus Community.

About the Star Alliance Common IT Platform (CITP)

The new platform is based on the first next generation Customer Management System available in the airline industry. Built on state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and software, the CITP will enhance customer service functionalities, specifically for sales and airport environments, including such transactions as schedule, availability, inventory, reservations, fare quote and ticketing as well as passenger check-in. The improvement in customer service will come through ease of use as well as through the provision of better quality and common data for airline service agents when dealing with alliance customers. The CITP project was originally launched in 2005 with Lufthansa and United as the lead carriers. To date, Austrian Airlines and regional members Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines have joined CITP. Additionally, Star Alliance member carrier South African Airways is using Amadeus Altéa, based on a similar technology as CITP.

About Star Alliance

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. Star Alliance was voted Best Airline Alliance by Business Traveller Magazine in 2003 and 2006 and by Skytrax in 2003 and 2005. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, THAI, United and US Airways. Regional member carriers Adria Airways (Slovenia), Blue1 (Finland) and Croatia Airlines enhance the global network. Air China, Shanghai Airlines and Turkish Airlines have all been accepted as future members and are expected to join Star Alliance soon. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 16,000 daily flights to 855 destinations in 155 countries.

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