BA has completed its switch of its inventory and route network to Amadeus's “next generation” Altea Plan.
It took Europe's second largest airline several months to complete the changeover to the inventory management system which it helped Amadeus design. It is BA's biggest overhaul of its technical infrastructure for 20 years.
The system will be the heart of BA's day-to-day operations, handling 38 million British Airways customers a year.
It gives the airline control over its inventory and seat planning and provides tools to maximise the yield on every seat.
BA joins oneworld partner Qantas, which has been running Altéa Plan since September 2004, and more than twenty other airlines which use the system.
Paul Colby, BA's chief information officer, said: “Altéa Plan gives us the ability to handle the most sophisticated revenue management techniques available today, while at the same time improving the cost-efficiency of our internal processes.”
Alitalia rescue plan wins EC approval
The EC has approved the rescue plan for Alitalia despite claims from rival airlines that it involved state aid.
The Commission, after several months' deliberation, said the plan to split the troubled carrier into two operating sections, AZ Fly and AZ Services, could go ahead “provided that the conditions laid down to ensure that the State behaves like a prudent investor are strictly complied with.”
Announcing its decision , the EC said it had it had received guarantees from Deutsche Bank that private investors would provide most of the 1.2bn re-capitalisation of AZ Fly which would run the flying operations.
AZ Services, which will handle ground operations, will be re-capitalised with 216m from Fintecna, a state holding company. But the Commission said it was satisfied “this investment offers a return consistent with what a private investor would expect.”
BA and Ryanair as well as the European Low Fares Airlines Association have consistently claimed that the plan involved state aid and was illegal as Alitalia had already previously received state aid.
EC rules allow state aid on one occasion only.