Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 3, December 2009
Malaysia Airlines completes major reservations transition
Malaysia Airlines has made a smooth transition to the SITA Reservations platform. The operation took just 13 hours and involved the successful transfer of almost 1.5 million passenger records.
At a news briefing Malaysia Airlines CEO, Tengku Dato' Azmil Zahruddin, commented: "This is a significant milestone for Malaysia Airlines and opens up a future of great commercial possibilities through the use of SITA's Horizon portfolio. It is the critical piece in the jigsaw we have been assembling with SITA over the last three years.
'Heart transplant'
"Upgrading to a new reservations platform is the equivalent of a heart transplant for an airline. Over 3,000 Reservations and Ticketing staff have been fully trained in preparation for this change.
"Malaysia Airlines already has one of the highest online booking penetrations of any full service carrier in Asia and this will continue to grow, increasing revenue and reducing costs."
The SITA Reservations suite of products includes reservations, inventory and distribution with code share, automated schedule and re-accommodation management for the 14 million passenger Kuala Lumpur-based carrier.
New benchmark
The successful cutover to SITA Reservations sets a new industry benchmark for how such a complex project can be delivered with minimal disruption to the airline and its passengers. A team of 500 Malaysia Airlines and SITA staff handled the switchover between midnight on October 31 and noon on Sunday 1 November.
Only 67 PNRs needed to be reworked during the cutover, representing just 0.007% of the total of 1,472,416. The project was delivered on time and within budget.
As part of a ten-year $130 million contract, SITA has also implemented an upgraded Departure Control System and an e-commerce platform, which saw online sales rise from 4% to 30% online in the 18 months to September 2009.
SITA has also helped to eliminate revenue leakage through an integrity and protection programme by ensuring the authentication of every booking.
Mobile ambitions
Following the briefing, a report in Singapore's New Straits Times picked up on the airline's future mobile ambitions: "There are airlines that offer mobile services now but their processes are lengthy. We aim to create a seamless and easy process for customers to book and even check-in via their mobiles". See www.sita.aero for further announcements.
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