Lufthansa Group and Amadeus have renewed their long-term commercial partnership, giving the carrier access to the Altea passenger service system as well as a range of other digital services. While the deal was agreed in principle about a year ago, Amadeus says it has taken time to negotiate various elements included in it.
The Altea system will continue to provide its reservations and ticketing technology as well as inventory and disruption management to Lufthansa. Amadeus will also help the airline group with its “digital and retail transformation,” according to the two companies.
Monika Wiederhold, executive vice president for airlines in Central & Eastern Europe at Amadeus, says digital shopping, seamless payments, loyalty technology and airport IT are also part of the agreement. She describes it as a “harmonization,” providing Lufthansa Group with the stability to run a 100 million passenger business on “stable and reliable systems.”
Bardo Werum, head of IT passenger service systems at Lufthansa Group, adds that the agreement also brings more flexibility to the airlines in terms of pricing and volume.
Making changes
The group is bringing each airline over to a single system governed by one contract, with the transfers expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
It is also bringing all its carrier brands under a single group website, with a plan to launch additional digital services. Werum says: “When doing digitilization, it’s very important to have a stable core system which allows additional services.”
One example is that the technology will provide the airlines with the flexibility to change the user interface and create specific landing pages for customers.
The technology will also enable the group’s airlines to check in customers remotely, providing them with more flexibility as well efficiency, especially during disruptions. Werum says: “Key functionality is to rebook a complete flight within minutes, first of all within Lufthansa Group airlines, then Star Alliance partners and third parties. It’s also possible to offer train tickets. Passengers get automatic rebooking on their mobile and just confirm it.”
There are also cost benefits for the airlines in terms of efficiency through harmonizing its technology.
Werum adds: “Consolidation of volume means better pricing. Secondly, flexibility because we pay per passenger, so if the business is going down we pay less, which is important in the airline business if the market gets difficult. Last, if we grow and are successful in consolidation, which is our aim, we can benefit more in even higher volume.” Eurowings is not part of the contract and will continue to use the Amadeus-owned Navitaire platform.
