Abacus International, Asia Pacific’s leading revenue partner for airlines, has announced that it will be the first GDS to exclusively launch electronic ticketing with Malaysia Airlines in Myanmar through its unique Abacus electronic transitional automated ticketing platform (eTAT).

This means that as of today, authorised travel agents in Myanmar will be able to issue electronic tickets on behalf of Malaysia Airlines, hence enabling tremendous improvements in the efficiency of their sales and ticketing process. This highly anticipated initiative comes hot on the heels of Abacus’ successful rollout of eTAT with Bangkok Airways in Myanmar in September 2009 which led the way as the first such partnership between Bangkok Airways and a GDS in Myanmar, and is testament to the strong partnership between Abacus and Malaysia Airlines.

This development also represents the addition of the latest carrier in a growing list of airlines that have already or are planning to adopt the Abacus eTAT platform. This includes Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Bangkok Airways and Vietnam Airlines.  The eTAT solution is currently being deployed in Brunei, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam.

Speaking about the announcement, Abacus International Director of Airline Distribution, Ho Hoong Mau said, “The introduction of eTAT in Myanmar for Malaysia Airlines is an indication of the strong engagement we have with airline offices and travel agents across Asia Pacific. Based on our track record, we are confident eTAT will dramatically improve the sales and ticketing process in a non-BSP market like Myanmar and hence allows Malaysia Airlines to focus on revenue generation and building deeper relationship with its customers.”

He continued, “This new partnership with Malaysia Airlines is not only intended to bring increased operational, cost and distribution efficiency for the airline, but also greater convenience for travel agents and the travelling public alike.”

Mr. Min Din, Managing Director, Columbus Travels & Tours, added, “We are delighted that Malaysian Airlines has worked with Abacus to implement the eTAT solution in Myanmar. Being able to issue electronic tickets directly from our office has enabled us to improve our productivity and customer service level and has made flight reservations between the two cities much easier and simpler. What’s more, our customers now have an increased number of options open to them for travel, including Malaysian Airlines, one of the most prominent airlines operating in this market."

Dr Amin Khan - Senior General Manager, Network & Rev Management Malaysia Airlines, stated, “Malaysia Airlines is delighted to have successfully launched electronic ticketing in Myanmar with Abacus through their innovative eTAT solution. Working closely together, we now have electronic ticketing capability in non-BSP markets such as Laos and Myanmar meaning that authorised Myanmar travel agents can enjoy the greater convenience of issuing electronic tickets directly from their Abacus terminals and in the comfort of their locations. This will help by freeing up our airline reservation office to focus on providing other value-added services to our customers.”

eTAT Key Features
eTAT provides many distinct advantages to airlines in that it provides an e-ticketing solution whilst supporting the generic IATA 722 format. eTAT presents agents a solution which is applicable and complements existing ticketing and fare functions – IUR, net ticketing, DQB, refunds  exchanges - making this a great fit to the already busy desktop of today’s travel agent.

Further advantages include the ability to access Airline Direct Reporting - providing airline sales reporting file (SRF) data and ticket inventory data (TID) for their offline processing.

Moreover, the solution has Airline Specific Control meaning that functionality can be configured on an airline by airline basis for greater flexibility. Further tailoring can also be provided through eTAT thanks to the activation of solutions being controlled on a market-by-market basis.