Maldivian uses IBS’ Passenger Services System

Sept. 23, 2008 - PRLog -- Maldivian, the national airline of Maldives, has gone live with IBS’ new-generation Passenger Service System, aiRES in the Software as a Service (SaaS) mode. The solution will help the airline manage its passenger reservations, inventory control, fares & ticketing, and departure control functions.

Maldivian has chosen IBS’ solution for its cost-effectiveness, optimum fit, short implementation time and flexible features that include Web Distribution, GDS, and Credit Card payment gateways. Through its open architecture, aiRES will enable Maldivian to broaden its customer service offering by integrating it with its distribution channels.

Maldivian operates scheduled flights both to domestic destinations as well as to the regional destination, Trivandrum in India and is looking to add more such destinations such as Colombo, Sri Lanka in November 2008 to boost tourism to the island nation and more importantly to provide greater convenience for the locals traveling abroad. aiRES provides the airline the rich functionality and the flexible and scalable architecture required to help address its growth needs and the business agility to adapt to the requirements of a changing and competitive market.  The SaaS (hosted) version of the new-generation system allows Maldivian to utilize the complete functionality of the system to improve customer experience, in a very cost-effective manner, being required to pay on a transaction basis. This is especially significant at a time when rising costs driven by fuel prices, are driving airlines to look for effective ways to reduce operational costs in other areas.

According to Ahmed Zuhair, Director Commercial at Maldivian; “as the company is making every step in all directions to expand and enhance operations within the domestic and the regional sectors, it became absolutely necessary for the airline to invest in a reservation system that would not only full fill all the requirements of the airlines reservations today but also acquire a system that can grow with the airline and would actually facilitate to improve future service delivery efficiently”.  

According to V K Mathews, Chairman & CEO IBS Group, “Our vision at IBS, has been to provide transformational business solutions for the air transportation industry and we have not been afraid to push the envelop of change, despite industry skepticism and misgivings. That we have succeeded in conceiving, developing and successfully delivering a completely integrated new-generation system to handle this complex business process underscores our commitment to provide airlines with new-generation solutions that cater to all their business and operational needs. We are delighted that Maldivian has chosen our Passenger Services System and joined the growing number of airlines looking to move away from the current legacy systems and opt for new-generation technology to help remain competitive in dynamically evolving markets.”

About aiRES:-
aiRES is an integrated, multi-hosting system that addresses passenger reservations, inventory control, fares & ticketing, and departure control functions of commercial airlines. The functional coverage and packaging of the product is such that it supports the needs of all airlines, from sophisticated full service carriers to low cost operators. aiRES is designed to help airlines improve economies, enhance service quality, and improve revenues and profitability whilst actually reducing the cost of ownership of the system.

The object oriented, component architecture of aiRES makes it scalable and easily customizable to suit the diverse business needs of airlines. Technologically, aiRES marks the beginning of a new era of opportunities for airlines' passenger services business that will help them migrate from the decades old legacy paradigm. With its multi-hosting capability, aiRES also becomes an attractive option for hosting service providers.

About Maldivian:-
Maldivian; owned and operated by Island Aviation Service Ltd is the main domestic carrier in the Maldives, catering for the demand of the domestic travelers since April 2000 and in January 2008, made the first leap towards regional operations by commencing daily flights to Trivandrum, India and today operates twice daily to the destination.

Beginning operations with only 1 Dornier-228 (16 seats) and 1 Dash8-200 (37 seats) aircraft in 2000, the airline has been expanding its operations domestically as well as regionally by introducing additional frequencies to the four domestic and regional destinations. In addition the airline is gearing up to commence operations to Colombo, Sri Lanka on 6th November 2008 adding one more regional destination to the companies list.  

Since the operations began in 2000, Maldivian has been busy acquiring aircrafts yearly in order to cater for the demands of the domestic market as well as for its regional operations. The fleet today consists of 1 Dornier-228 (16 seats), 2 Dash8-200 (37 seats), and 2 Dash8-300 (50 seats) aircrafts.

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The IBS Group (IBS) is a leading global provider of new-generation IT solutions to the Travel, Transportation and Logistics industries.