Airlines are the focus in the news this week with AirAsia Asean Pass going on sale, Lufthansa works with Amadeus to personalise travellers’ experience, while Malaysia Airlines teams up with Sabre to improve efficiency.
Explore Asean the credit way with AirAsia
AirAsia Asean Pass encourages travel among the Asean community.
Now everyone can fly to all the Asean countries with credits instead of cash with the AirAsia Asean Pass going on sale from February 23.
As a “true Asean airline” AirAsia said the pass, which was launched on January 15 this year, is to boost intra-regional travel, as well as make travelling within Asean a seamless experience.
The pass, available at www.airasia.com, is priced at RM499 (US$138) for 10 credits and AirAsia Asean Pass+ for RM888 for 20 credits.
The credits are redeemable for travel at fixed rate with AirAsia Malaysia, Thai AirAsia, AirAsia Indonesia, and Philippines AirAsia .
Holders of the AirAsia Asean Pass and the AirAsia Asean Pass+ can enjoy flights at a fixed-rate to over 148 routes across all 10 Asean countries. Acting like a single currency, it diminishes the hassle of different foreign exchange rates as flights are valued according to credits, allowing guests to be creative in planning their ideal trip through Asean.
The airline said that flights with duration of below two hours are valued at one credit, while flights of two hours and above are valued at three credits. There is no processing fee for flight redemptions using both passes. Airport charges/tax and other fees will be payable separately.
Travellers can also purchase the pass as a gift for family or friends.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s group CEO, said the pass is a product specifically designed to further liberalise and encourage travel among the Asean community. “The pass allows us to bridge communities and attract more foreign tourists to the region – it’s the perfect instrument to promote Asean integration.”
He added AirAsia is constantly enhancing the way its guests fly. “The AirAsia Asean Pass is another innovation that we have put in place to make flying more efficient and enjoyable. We are working on additional enhancements that will further benefit guests travelling from non Asean destinations.”
Amadeus helps Lufthansa personalise corporate customers’ travel experience
Technology enables Lufthansa to offer more personalised service to corporate travellers. (Image credit: Wikipedia)
Lufthansa has selected Amadeus’ patent-pending Altéa Corporate Recognition, a tool that allows the airline to better recognise corporate customers at the time of booking, to help personalise the travel experience of its corporate customers.
Amadeus said as the technology automatically recognises the corporation to which the business travel belongs, personalisation can begin from the moment the flight is being booked.
“This could mean corporate customers are offered preferential handling from the first booking step onwards or that individual business travellers are managed as valued customers whilst at the airport, and are then fast-tracked through security for example,” it explained in a media release.
For Lufthansa, the first airline to use this tool, it can automatically offer packages of tailored ancillary services to meet corporate/business travellers’ needs such as, baggage and preferential seat options.
Christian Tillmans, Lufthansa’s vice president global sales and key account management, said the technology allows the airline to both retain and increase the value delivered to corporate customers and business travellers.
“This development is a key milestone on our journey to offering an even more personalised and differentiated experience, enabling us to respond better to the customers’ need, increase customer satisfaction and drive higher productivity at the same time.”
Julia Sattel, senior vice president airline IT, Amadeus, said today’s corporate travellers expect even higher levels of personalisation than passengers travelling for leisure.
“In a world where full service airlines face increasing competition from LCCs and hybrid carriers, there is a need to take the next step towards a truly personalised experience. Whilst this solution benefits the individual traveller, it also allows airlines to boost their relationship with key corporations as a whole – meaning airlines’ loyalty divisions can use the solution in a strategic manner.”
Malaysia Airlines chooses Sabre flight solution to optimise efficiency
Sabre’s solution helps MAS improve its day-to-day operations. (Image credit: Malaysia Airlines)
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has implemented Sabre Movement Manager, the flight operations technology from Sabre Corporation, to support its strategy to fully use the latest technology and industry best practices for operational efficiency.
The solution gives MAS a complete view of critical flight operations, allowing it to streamline activity, improve decision-making and ultimately reduce costs and increase profitability.
The airline can better manage aircraft utilisation, flight and maintenance schedules, on-time performance, as well as irregular operations and disruptions. It integrates across all critical operational areas including aircraft monitoring, crew, passenger and cargo movement, providing the airline’s Operational Control Centre (OCC) a complete view of all issues and disruptions so employees can address these quickly.
Captain Izham Ismail, MAS’ director of operations, said Sabre Movement Manager would enable the airline to achieve the airline’s on-time performance goals.
“It also allows us to make more informed and faster operational decisions by eliminating operational inefficiencies as well as improving our day-to-day operations. It interfaces with our main operations centre allowing seamless and more automated data exchanges,” he added.
Kamal Qatato, vice president, Sabre Airline Solutions, added: “The implementation of Sabre Movement Manager is a key milestone in the airline’s journey to becoming a ‘Connected Airline,’ where intuitive systems and workflow drive streamlined communication, efficiency and operational excellence.”
• Featured image credit (Inle Lake, Myanmar): MasterLu/iStock
