Amadeus announces that Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have signed a ten year agreement for the implementation and operation of Amadeus Altea Inventory by 2010. The airlines’ new inventory management solution will be fully integrated with their sales platform, Altea Reservation.

Both airlines will replace their legacy inventory systems with a single solution that will manage their 74.5 million passengers and more than 900,000 flights per year.

Amadeus Altea Inventory is a critical component of the Altea Suite[1] and has been selected by more than 70 airlines around the world. Designed from the ground up using Service Oriented Architecture and latest technology, it enables airlines to automate schedules management and re-accommodation, control availability using the most advanced revenue management techniques and offer customer centric services such as intelligent group seating – taking into consideration a customer value parameter for differentiated services.

Altea Inventory will support Air France and KLM in their key objective of maximising revenue from a single business operating two carrier codes. The two airlines will take this opportunity to align and optimise their critical schedule management and revenue management processes, leveraging best practices from both sides.

“The transition to a combined inventory system on the industry’s leading platform is strategic for the Air France – KLM Group,” said Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France-KLM Group CEO. “Not only will we be achieving operational synergies, but also thanks to the close integration of the Amadeus Altea suite, Air France and KLM will benefit from full data synchronisation at group level. The adoption of Altea Inventory will dramatically improve the servicing of Air France and KLM customers travelling across our unique co-branded network.”

“In these turbulent times, every single improvement on the top line matters. Amadeus Altea Inventory will bring us the dynamic inventory controls we need to exploit every opportunity to maximise revenue” added Peter Hartman KLM President & CEO.

Air France was a launch partner of the Amadeus reservation system. Following the Air France KLM merger in May 2004, the migration to the Altea Customer Management Solution Suite has been a strategic project to integrate both airlines’ critical operational processes and deliver long term competitive advantage. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines joined the Amadeus Altea Reservation platform in April 2007, facilitating the optimisation of sales & reservation resources and code sharing between the two airlines.

“Amadeus is delighted to work with Air France and KLM on their strategic consolidation project,” said Amadeus President & CEO, David Jones. “There is no doubt that the migration to Altea Inventory system in a couple of months will be a major achievement for both airlines, allowing them to optimise their revenues as one. It has been a very enriching process to define the best solution to match their complex needs, and Amadeus is proud to work with such demanding clients who push us to stay at the forefront of innovation.”

David Jones expressed Amadeus’ satisfaction in the renewed trust placed on the company’s capacity to deliver cutting edge IT solutions that match airlines’ most advanced requirements.

Following Air France and KLM’s decision, other airlines currently using the Air France or KLM in-house inventory systems are also joining the Amadeus platform. Kenya Airways and Martinair will also migrate from the KLM system in 2010.