Amadeus and Southwest Airlines advance partnership with new corporate travel agreement

MIAMI, Feb. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry and Southwest Airlines announced today a new milestone in their partnership. Under a new multi-year agreement, Amadeus' corporate travel booking tool users around the world will gain access to Southwest's fares and inventory.

"Providing seamless functionality and booking ease to our corporate customers worldwide is a focus we share with Amadeus," said Kevin Krone, Vice President Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer, Southwest Airlines. "This new global agreement marks another milestone in our continued partnership, offering a new dimension in distribution to deliver world-class access to our entire available inventory of seats to more than 90 destinations."

With the direct implementation of Southwest's content, users of Amadeus' e-Travel Management and i:FAO's cytric corporate booking tools will gain benefits such as:

• Greater functionalities including live availability and last seat inventory delivered via an integrated display
• Functionality supporting all pricing rules, fare rules and return of ticket number
• Fare searches returning the lowest fares available
• Booking and ticketing capabilities for the carrier's loyalty program/Rapid Rewards members
• Additional functionality related to deferred ticketing, retrieving and canceling reservations, and exchange funds toward new itineraries

"Our ongoing partnership with Southwest has fostered great outcomes in IT and now in the area of corporate travel distribution," said Scott Gutz, President and CEO of Amadeus North America. "Corporations need access to Southwest's content and we couldn't be more pleased to assure that the carrier can offer their products in the way they want through our direct corporate channels."

Gutz said this new agreement marks another achievement in Amadeus' successful advancement in North America. It also aligns with the company's significant investment in corporate travel overall, including other customer-focused, high priority efforts around corporate booking tool innovation which will begin rolling out later this year.

Additionally, with Amadeus' flexible and open systems, and because it uniquely hosts Southwest's inventory via its Altéa airline IT solution, Gutz said the two companies will explore how those factors might be leveraged toward delivering an improved experience and capabilities to Southwest customers.

Amadeus e-Travel Management helps corporations manage their global travel programs more efficiently and cost-effectively. The solution helps business travelers plan, personalize and purchase their trip while remaining compliant with the global travel policy. Over 6,000 corporations worldwide utilize Amadeus e-Travel Management to integrate all the elements of their programs into one intuitive and easy-to-administer solution.  i:FAO's cytric is an e-procurement solution for managed business travel used by 2,600 corporations worldwide. In 2014, Amadeus acquired the i:FAO Group, a leading provider of travel management solutions for corporations.

This agreement marks a next step in Amadeus' partnership with Southwest.  In April 2014, Southwest and Amadeus announced an agreement whereby Amadeus Altéa, the next generation passenger services system for airlines, was selected to support the carrier's domestic service.  July 2014 marked the successful full implementation of Amadeus Altéa to enable the carrier's first-ever scheduled international flying.

About Amadeus: 

Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).

The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organizations globally.

The group operates a transaction-based business model.

Amadeus is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under the symbol "AMS.MC" and is a component of the IBEX 35 index.

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Media inquiries: 

Debbie Iannaci 
Director, Corporate Communications 
Amadeus North America 
Tel: 305-499-6448 
Email: [email protected] 

Jessica Nelson 
Senior Account Supervisor 
Kwittken for Amadeus North America 
Tel: 646-747-7141
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Amadeus