Travelport and AXESS deliver new GDS
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Leading distribution management provider Travelport has announced a milestone in its agreement with Japanese partner AXESS, delivering a new global distribution system (GDS) to the market.
AXESS, which is owned by Japan Airlines, is now in the final stages of its schedule to roll out the new GDS in early October.
The new system will be powered by Travelport and is to be available purely to AXESS connected agents.
Richard Roberts vice president emerging markets at Travelport, who headed the project, told Travel Daily Asia that: “We have spent the last two years building an AXESS GDS system in the Travelport hosting environment. AXESS is Japan’s leading GDS and what we are effectively doing is moving and hosting the AXESS GDS and applications to the Travelport data centre.
We are delighted to announce the delivery of our new AXESS host system
We’ve spent the last two years building out and replicating the GDS AXCESS already had and adding functionality and features, thus enhancing their offering and complying with the local ticketing and IATA regulations.”
Japan Airlines, which was in bankruptcy when this deal was originally announced, is now publishing far stronger results – emulating the economic resurgence of Japan itself.
Hoshiko Nakano, president & CEO for AXESS said: “We are delighted to announce the delivery of our new AXESS host system. AXESS understands that the airline and travel industry businesses are changing, and, as the bridge of these industries, this requires the GDS to also transform. Assuring global capability and cutting-edge products is crucial for AXESS to maintain its leading position in the GDS industry.
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“By leveraging Travelport’s innovative technology, AXESS will continue to invest in new products and solutions as well as further enhancing our current offerings to be able to deliver more value to both airlines and travel agencies. It is always our motto to be Japan’s best GDS partner.”
The GDS, which is being demoed at today’s Japan JATA event is a huge step forward for the industry, added Roberts, outlining the new features and the possibilities.
“One of the main features we’ve added is our fares and shopping engine, which is very sophisticated and has obvious appeal. We also have a broader range of content, which means AXESS will be extending its capabilities within that regard.
This is going to give AXESS a strong and competitive position within their marketplace. Considering they have Japan Airlines as a parent, they have huge potential to enter new and exciting parts of the market; there are talks about the corporate customer sphere as well merchandising, which they don’t currently offer. Then there are possibilities for low cost carrier content as well as rail.
“It’s a very positive roadmap of activity.”
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