In the news: Qantas world’s safest airline, Travelport’s investment in travel-IT, taxi-transfer service from Amadeus and Cabforce, first prepaid card for Myanmar
Qantas tops AirlineRatings.com’s list of world’s safest airlines
Qantas has an extraordinary record of safety. (Image credit: TkKurikawa/iStock)
A new year’s honour for Australia’s Qantas, as it has been ranked as the world’s safest airline for 2015 by AirlineRatings.com for its fatality free record in the jet era.
AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety and product rating website that was launched in June 2013, recently announced its top 10 safest airlines and top 10 safest low cost carriers for 2015 from the 449 it monitors.
The other nine airlines deemed the safest in alphabetical order are Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
AirlineRatings.com’s rating system takes into account a range of factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies such as the FAA and ICAO, as well as government audits and the airline’s fatality record.
Its editorial team also examined each airline’s operational history, incident records and operational excellence to arrive at its top 10 safest airlines.
These airlines are always at the forefront of safety innovation and launching new planes and these airlines are a byword for excellence, added the team.
In choosing Qantas the website’s editors noted that over its 94-year history, the carrier has amassed an extraordinary record of firsts in safety and operations and is now accepted as the world’s most experienced airline.
They added the airline has been a leader in the development of the Future Air Navigation System, the Flight Data Recorder to monitor plane and later crew performance, automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System, precision approaches around mountains in cloud using RNP, and real time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite communications..
Responding to public interest, the AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their top 10 safest low cost airlines. In alphabetical order they are Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Icelandair, Jetblue, Jetstar, Kulula.com, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly and Westjet.
Unlike a number of low cost carriers, these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) audit and have excellent safety records, said the editors.
Of the 449 airlines surveyed 149 have the top seven-star safety ranking, but almost 50 have just three stars or less.
Four airlines only achieved one star for safety from AirlineRatings.com, namely Kam Air, Nepal Airlines, Scat and Tara Air.
Travelport invests in travel-IT
travel-IT is Travelport’s latest acquisition.
Travelport has acquired a majority stake in travel-IT, a leading German tour operator distribution company, as part leading of its wider transaction. However, it did not disclose details of the percentage or the amount of the investment.
Travelport said the strategic investment would significantly increase its presence and reach in the German leisure travel industry which, estimated at approximately €26 billion, is Europe’s largest. Most of the German tour operators offer their content either on a pre-packaged or dynamically packaged basis.
travel-IT provides a platform that enables the real time offer, search and booking of unique content from major operators serving Germany to consumers who purchase from travel retailers.
Juergen Witte, Travelport’s managing director in Germany and Switzerland and managing director of travel-IT, said the investment would allow the company to offer a full range of product and content to both traditional and online retail travel agencies, supported by several of Germany’s leading tour operators.
Michael Kalt, CEO of travel-IT, added that the investment would increase revenue and growth for the company and its partners, as well as bring increased choice, flexibility and efficiency to tour operators, travel agencies and consumers.
Commenting on the investment Gordon Wilson, Travelport president and CEO, said: “The announcement today rounds off a year that has seen a number of important strategic investments for Travelport in our travel commerce platform. We have expanded our Beyond Air capabilities in the payments, corporate travel and hotel distribution areas with our increased investment in eNett, our investment into Locomote and our acquisition of Hotelzon respectively.
“This latest tuck-in investment in travel-IT for Germany is consistent with our strategy to address the previously unmet needs of our customers and to redefine travel commerce using newer and better technology to enable unrivalled access to travel content through empowered selling systems.”
Amadeus teams up with Cabforce to offer taxi-transfer service
Hassle free journey for airline passengers with taxi-transfer service.
Amadeus and Cabforce have closed the gap of the “first and last mile” of the air journey with the launch of the Amadeus Taxi & Transfer solution, with Scandinavian Airlines as launch partner.
This partnership marks the first time that a taxi-transfer service is integrated in an airline’s website. It is currently bookable through SAS’ website, with several other airlines in the pipeline to implement it.
The solution enables airlines to integrate a hassle free “one-stop-shop” in their website, and offer a wider range of additional products and services to their customers to increase bookings and revenues.
Cabforce, a leading player in the pre-arranged taxi-transfer solution market, will provide its experience and expertise in the optimisation of the booking process to help increase adoption of the feature.
The taxi-transfer services are already available through the self-booking Amadeus e-Travel Management tool and Amadeus Selling Platform, the travel agencies’ point of sales.
Cabforce’s taxi content is available in six continents. It is working with Amadeus to add in more destinations.
Myanmar gets its first prepaid card with smartphone app
A first for Myanmar
Payment services provider, 2C2P, and Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB) have made it possible for Myanmar tourists to shop with ease abroad or online with the launch of the Citizen Card, the country’s first first plastic card with a real-time smartphone app.
The reloadable prepaid card targets the retail, travel and tourism sectors, and is accepted by MasterCard merchants globally.
With the optional smartphone app for both iOS and Android devices cardholders are able to manage transactions with real-time monitoring and online support.
The Citizen Card is limited to 5,000 units, available at any MCB branch in Myanmar or via its website.
Aung Kyaw Moe, group CEO at 2C2P, said the Citizen Card would facilitate both physical and online shopping. “It will also be of use to Myanmar tourists when they travel overseas, as consumers can enjoy special benefits and privileges at destinations such as Thailand and Singapore, with a number of partner merchants in the airline, food and beverage and hospitality sectors.” .
According to McKinsey & Co, Myanmar is expected to quadruple the size of its economy from US$45 billion to over US$200 billion by 2030, with per capita GDP rising from US$1,300 in 2010 to US$5,100 by 2030.
2C2P has also introduced iACCEPT, a mobile point-of-sales system with Visa, MasterCard, Myanmar Citizens Bank and Myanmar Hotels International.
• Featured image credit (Qantas): TkKurikawa/iStock
