Chennai: Loss-making Air India has said it expects to save Rs 3,000 crore over the next six years by migrating to a single ticket sale and distribution platform.
In October, UK-based firm Travelport bagged the contract for Air India’s domestic ticket distribution services replacing Amadeus. Following Travelport coming into the play, the national carrier removed its inventory from the Amedeus network on Tuesday.
“Migrating to a single global distribution system will help us save as much as Rs 3,000 crore over the next six years, which will be a substantial saving for us,” PTI quoted an official to have said.
Air India’s domestic and international flights will continue to be sold through Travelport, and other GDS providers like Sabre and Abacus. However, from 1 January, 2020, domestic flights will be exclusively distributed through Travelport. Significantly, Travelport is the business partner of a leading domestic budget carrier.
Earlier last month, travel industry bodies TAAI and TAFI had urged the Air India management not to discontinue the inventory from other existing GDS providers and had even written to Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu on the issue.