Articles tagged “gds”

Amadeus is much more than a global distribution system provider, and the airline IT solutions side of its business is growing much faster than the still-larger travel agency side.

After years of bickering, marketing spin and battles for the hearts and minds of travel agents, American Airlines and Sabre settled their protracted dispute apparently after airing their dirty linen out in the open was too much to take.

Airlines shouldn't play games and must fully disclose their fees on airline websites and in advertising, but to require airlines to sell their wares through travel agencies would be a huge step backward.

American Airlines and Sabre are finally getting their day in court. With secret memos, claims of bias and ulterior motives, there's going to be a lot of dirt exposed.

Once again, a global distribution system, in this case Travelport, goes to bat for itself and travel agents, trying to thwart airlines from freely doing business and providing incentives to their own customers.

The rebranding positions the association to portray itself as the voice of travel technology, although it only represents only a portion of one sector, the intermediaries.

The easing of GDS restrictions in China is a huge development for the GDSs themselves and international airlines. The overture undoubtedly will be tightly controlled as China continues to open up more broadly to the rest of the world.

Sabre and Travelport clearly have used their market power to stymie American Airlines. It would be interesting to find out from the courts how they ultimately view the antitrust allegations -- but the parties could settle long before that happens.

Add a win to AA Direct Connect's column as one of the leading GDSs is told that an airline doesn't need to go through it to reach consumers.