Amadeus announces further expansion of its airport IT business to North America with the acquisition of Air-Transport IT Services, Inc. (AirIT)

MADRID, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Amadeus' Airport IT business has firmly established itself in the North American region with the acquisition of AirIT, previously wholly-owned by Fraport AG. It is the second acquisition of well-established airport industry players for Amadeus in the past 15 months.

With this acquisition Amadeus significantly expands its presence and its capabilities to serve the North American market, a key region for the airport IT sector. AirIT's solutions are used by 30 of the top 50 busiest airports in the US including Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Charlotte. AirIT uniquely complements Amadeus' business with a strong customer base that encompasses more than 115 airlines and 120 airports predominately in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Airports often seek property and revenue management systems in conjunction with airport management systems.  This acquisition will allow Amadeus to be more responsive to those customer needs outside of North America by combining its existing airport management solutions with the AirIT PROPworks® portfolio, a highly configurable, scalable property and revenue management solution for airports of all sizes that allows for management of contracts, invoices, sales, tenants and more. PROPworks® is already used by four of the five busiest airports in the United States.

John Jarrell, Head of Airport IT for Amadeus, said: "As the pace of recovery picks up over the next few years, the North American market, already the biggest airport IT market in the world, will represent an enormous opportunity for growth. With this acquisition, Amadeus accelerates the expansion of its Airport IT business in the region, gaining both a solid customer base and a highly experienced team, to provide innovative solutions to our customers."

"We look forward to joining the Amadeus team," said Betros Wakim, CEO of AirIT. "We share a similar culture of innovation. This fact is exemplified in our passenger processing solutions. Amadeus' Airport Common Use Service solution and the AirIT EASE platform both demonstrate industry-defining contemporary approaches to delivering airline common use. There are clearly dynamic synergies between the two companies, which will further enhance our ability to deliver complete end-to-end solutions to our respective customers globally. With our combined offerings, expertise, and infrastructure, we believe that we will have the opportunity to serve our customers even better."

As a result of the transaction approximately 70 employees, including AirIT's management team, will become part of Amadeus' Airport IT business.

Notes to the editors:

Fraport AG – which ranks among the world's leading companies in the global airport business – offers a full range of integrated airport management services and boasts subsidiaries and investments on five continents. In 2014, the Fraport Group generated sales of €2.4 billion and profit of about €252 million.  The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (share symbol "FRA") and is a component of the MDAX German index. 

Last year more than 108.5 million passengers used airports around the world in which Fraport has more than a 50 percent stake.  At its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base, Fraport welcomed about 60 million passengers and handled some 2.2 million metric tons of cargo (airfreight and airmail) in 2014.  FRA's Global route network features 104 passenger airlines serving 297 Destinations in 104 countries during the current 2015 Summer Timetable.  More than half of FRA's destinations are intercontinental (beyond Europe) – underscoring Frankfurt's role as a leading hub in the global air transportation system. In Europe, Frankfurt Airport ranks first in terms of cargo tonnage and is the third-busiest for passenger traffic. With about 55 percent of all passengers using Frankfurt as a connecting hub, FRA also has the highest transfer rate among the major European hubs.

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 Organisations 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.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com, and www.amadeus.com/blog for more on the travel industry.

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