SITA helps Iraqi Airways open global reservations centre

Iraqi Airways has opened its new reservation contact centre in Amman, thanks to the help of global aviation IT provider SITA. 

The new centre, operated by SITA, will help the airline better manage its reservations across 13 countries.

This will support Iraqi Airways as it continues to rebuild its international business; to do this the airline requires reliable infrastructure that allows it to manage it reservations globally and at home from a single reservation centre. It also needs to accommodate a growing demand from passengers for multi-channel support, including voice, email and chat.

Leveraging SITA’s Unified Communications portfolio has allowed the airline to consolidate voice, data and audio into one platform while the cloud-based infrastructure delivers secure, reliable connectivity, which effectively links the airline to its far-flung destinations.

With SITA’s global presence in more than 200 countries and territories as well as more than 1,000 airports, it was possible to connect all 13 destinations seamlessly to the central reservations centre.

Iraqi Airways already had SITA’s Horizon Passenger Management and Distribution system in place, so the airline was also able to integrate the new centre with its reservation, ticketing, e-commerce, inventory and departure control systems. Using a new-generation graphical interface, agents are quickly and speedily able to make or change bookings.

As part of the management agreement, SITA recruited all agents and trained them to use the various elements of the passenger services system.

Osama Al Sadr, CEO of Iraqi Airways, said: “As we continue to expand of our network across the globe, we needed a world-class reservation center that could assist our passengers across our network 24/7. SITA was able to quickly provide us with a global presence with a fully-trained team. It also ensured that the center was able to accommodate our future growth as our network and operation continues to expand.”

Hani El-Assaad, SITA President, Middle East, India, and Africa said: “SITA’s global presence and infrastructure made it possible to quickly develop a reservation center to support Iraqi Airways’ international network expansion. We understood, as an emerging airline, they needed a solution that was both world-class and efficient. That helped us deliver a solution that fits and supports their business.”

The reservation centre will be manned by agents who are able to assist passengers in English, Arabic and Kurdish.