SITA’s Passenger System Delivers Smooth Star Alliance Entry for Air India

SITA played an instrumental part in helping Air India comply with the technical requirements of joining Star Alliance.

Air India is the first Indian carrier to join a global airline alliance opening the way for increased business opportunities for the airline.

“We congratulate Air India on joining the Star Alliance - this is a major achievement for the airline and significant milestone for the Indian aviation industry. This was achieved in record time and was made possible by the close collaboration between SITA and our long-standing partner Air India. The airline will now be able to offer passengers a seamless travel experience across the Star Alliance network around the world,” said Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA. “SITA’s ability to provide Air India with technology that is compliant with the Star Alliance’s requirements is due to our dedication to meet the needs of our airline members by creating greater choice in the marketplace, which is complemented by our continued investment in our PSS. The success of this project demonstrates how SITA’s technology and skills can contribute to other alliance integrations moving forward.”

In 2010, Air India selected SITA to implement its Horizon Passenger Service System (PSS) and to enable the complex migration of Air India and Indian Airlines IT platforms to the new PSS system following their merger.

The seamless integration was the first milestone towards complete modernization of Air India and a key imperative for Air India to join the Star Alliance.

SITA’s Horizon Passenger Services System suite of solutions for Air India, which caters to the airline alliance requirements, includes Reservations, Departure Control Services, Ticketing, eCommerce, Loyalty, Fares and Revenue Integrity.

With this solution, Air India provides its passengers a more efficient and functionally rich online booking engine, as well as kiosk check-in and web check-in, along with other advanced passenger services.

Shri Rohit Nandan, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India said, “We are committed to redefining air travel for our passengers. The successful cut-over enables Air India to officially join the Star Alliance network and in doing so has become the first Indian airline to join a global airline alliance. Membership of the Star Alliance will greatly facilitate Air India’s ability to achieve its future growth strategy by increasing passenger numbers and network expansion through code share deals with partner airlines. SITA’s cutting-edge technology was instrumental in making the membership possible and will undoubtedly allow us to continue to improve efficiencies and deliver enhanced passenger services. Our strategic partnership with SITA will go a long way in helping us become a strong global player.”

India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world – currently ranked 9th it is expected to move up to 3rd behind the US and China by 2020.