More than 80 delegates from 30 international airlines travelled to the U.A.E. recently to see innovative technology for which Dubai has become renowned throughout the airline business worldwide.

Delegates travelled to Dubai from airlines based in all five continents and included airline CIOs, Heads of Commercial Operations and senior managers. The dedicated forum was hosted by Mercator, the Dubai-based business technology provider and held at the Emirates Group Headquarters, opposite the new Emirates Terminal Three at Dubai International Airport.

The two-day event also showcased IATA’s ‘Fast Travel’ initiatives and how they respond to growing passenger demand for greater convenience and more control over their journeys - one relatively recent example is the introduction of self service check in counters which already save passengers a great deal of time.  There were talks by IATA representatives, Mercator partners and senior managers, panel discussions and product demonstrations, with a host of positive feedback being received from existing Mercator customers.
 
Duncan Alexander, Vice President, Sales and Market Development, Mercator, said: “We are delighted to use this event to highlight to industry professionals our latest product - Jupiter - a value proposition which includes a consolidated suite of applications closely integrated with Mercator’s airline reservation and airport control systems, MARS and MACS.  The combination is designed to give airlines greater business and system integration, return on investment, process improvement and significant cost reduction. 
 
“Mercator has continually enhanced and maintained the core of its reservation and departure control technologies. The current global economic climate presents a need for all airlines to keep costs down while we at Mercator have invested time and money in developing our portfolio to offer products whose concepts have been developed not only internally but externally with major industry players, such as Farelogix and Calidris.”

At the end of the first day, delegates had the rare opportunity to see a fast travel initiative first-hand as they toured the Emirates crew check in facility which links the basement of the Group’s Headquarter building with Terminal Three.
 
Excellent feedback was received from many who attended the forum. Mahmood Abbas, Head of Revenue Accounting for Gulf Air, said: “I would like to thank Mercator’s team for kind hospitality and fruitful Solutions Forum."