Navitaire's Open Skies Host Reservation Services Doubles Customer Base in 2002
Minneapolis; Jan. 31, 2003: Navitaire®, the leading provider of hosted services to low-fare airlines, has doubled the customer base for its Open Skies host reservation services in less than a year, from 12 customers last February to 25 customers by the end of December 2002.
The 13 new customers include a variety of rapidly growing airlines, including AirAsia, bmibaby, Germanwings, Hapag Lloyd and Hapag Lloyd Express, which join Ryanair, jetBlue, Virgin Express, Virgin Blue and eight other carriers that have been using Navitaire's Open Skies host reservation services for several years.
In addition to the significant expansion of Navitaire's host reservations customer base, two long-standing Open Skies customers agreed to multi-year contract renewals in 2002, and 10 new Navitaire customers contracted for both host reservations systems and revenue management systems.
"We're very pleased that, despite a tough year for the industry, we were able to double our customer base for Open Skies," said John Dabkowski, Navitaire's senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. "This tremendous growth is due to our continued ability to deliver consistent value to our customers, who include many of the world's fastest-growing and most profitable airlines. We believe that our success is due to our ability to help airlines reduce the cost of distribution, reservations and customer service operations."
Another Navitaire success in 2002 was winning an Airline Transport and Transportation Information Systems (ATTIS) award, which recognizes IT excellence in the air transport and travel industry. Navitaire received the ATTIS award for Best Web Transaction Provider for its Open Skies Skylights® e-Suite Internet booking engine, which was cited for its ability to deliver low-cost, easy-to-use, self-service reservations. With Open Skies customers relying on the Internet for as much as 96 percent of their bookings, Skylights provides airlines with an efficient and effective reservations solution. Navitaire estimates that its customers saved US$98 million in annual distribution costs last year through their extensive use of Skylights.
Navitaire plans to enhance the offerings of its Open Skies reservation system in 2003 with new features focused on expanding cost-effective booking options for airlines.
About Navitaire
A pioneer in the ASP industry, Navitaire Inc. has been providing industry-leading reservations, direct distribution, revenue protection, decision support and passenger revenue accounting technology to airlines since 1993. Through its ASP delivery model, Navitaire offers industry leading applications with reduced implementation time and risk, ensured operational reliability, and cost-effective fee structures. A wide array of Navitaire products, including revenue management systems and integrated ticketless/e-commerce solutions, provide airlines throughout the world with industry operating system solutions that allow them to grow more profitably.
Navitaire's customer base consists of more than 40 airlines worldwide, including 10 of the world's 25 largest airlines, as well as a growing base of low-fare and midsize airlines. An affiliate company of Accenture, Navitaire is headquartered in Minneapolis, with offices in Salt Lake City, Sydney, Manila, and Prague.
Contact:
Susan Adelman
Navitaire Inc.
+1 (612) 317-7284