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Germanwings and Amadeus have announced that all of the airline's published fares and ancillary services will be available to Amadeus subscribers on Sept. 23, 2014.
The Lufthansa subsidiary previously sold a limited range of its fares via Amadeus' travel agency partners, using full e-ticketing. On Sept. 23rd, an industry-first implementation will turn Germanwings into the first airline in the world to offer both full and light ticketing options to travel sellers.
Light ticketing is Amadeus' unique system enhancement that enables agents to book low-cost & hybrid carriers with the same booking process used for full-service carriers, even when established through an interface using XML technology.
"Everything is progressing well for our groundbreaking implementation of Amadeus' light ticketing functionality," said Christian Hein, senior vice president e-commerce, sales and distribution, Germanwings. "Starting Sept. 23rd, our travel agency partners will be able to better tailor the experience for travelers with access to the most demanded ancillary services. We are confident the ability to book our full range of flights, in exactly the same way as a full-service carrier, will improve efficiencies for travel agents."
"This implementation is another example of our commitment to offering the widest possible range of content to Amadeus subscribers while it also showcases Amadeus' XML-based technical capabilities," said Holger Taubmann, senior vice president, distribution at Amadeus. "As evermore low-cost and hybrid airlines seek access to the high-yield business travel market, it isimperative that a technology partner like Amadeus continues to make the shopping and booking process as efficient as possible."
As of Sept. 23, 2014, travel agents will benefit from being able to offer travelers more relevant, tailored travel options, including access to Germanwings' budget, standard and comfort fares; point-to-point and interline flights; and a wider range of optional extras. The fare options include:
• BASIC: the budget fare which includes the flight, hand luggage, air miles and cannot be combined with other airlines. This fare is a new addition to the Amadeus system and will be bookable using light ticketing only; from September 23rd all other fare options below can be booked with both light ticketing and full e-ticketing functionality.
• SMART: the standard fare, which includes the same benefits as the budget fare, as well as a range of the most important ancillary services, such as one item of checked luggage, an inflight snack and drink and a seat reservation.
• BEST: the comfort, highest value fare, which is aimed at business travelers in particular but also appeals to leisure travelers. It includes the flight and a wider range of ancillary services, such as two items of checked luggage, à la carte catering on board, preferred seating in the front rows with a free adjacent seat and priority ground services including lounge access.
• Germanwings' flexible fare options, SMART Flex and BEST Flex, will also be available. They enable travelers to re-book or cancel flights free-of-charge, even at short notice.
Over 70 low-cost & hybrid airlines, including Germanwings, distribute their inventory via the Amadeus system. Amadeus' travel agency network covers more than 200 markets worldwide.
SOURCE: Amadeus press release
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