Amadeus Starts Marketing EMD Standards for Travel Agencies

Amadeus is now marketing IATA’s Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) for travel agencies.

All GDS providers must ensure the industry’s EMD standard is available to travel agencies in all of ARC (Airlines Reporting Corporation) and BSP (Billing & Settlement Plan) markets by end 2013.

The EMD is the industry electronic messaging standard which enables airlines and travel agencies to more effectively share information relating to issuance, management, distribution and fulfilment of airline services.

Amadeus has not only replaced the current tool with the new electronic version to issue documents for standalone travel related services such as lounge access, vouchers, etc., but has also enabled the collection of payment for a variety of services directly associated to a flight, such as excess baggage and specific meals.

The adoption of the EMD standard for travel agencies reduces costs, enables automated reporting and accounting of ancillary service sales whilst delivering a single, consolidated and easy to understand electronic document to the traveller, which details the full range of services they have purchased. The standard is essential to the effective selling of airline ancillary services such as extra legroom, in-flight meals and baggage fees.

Recent research from Ideaworks highlights ancillary services as a rapidly growing revenue driver for airlines with worldwide ancillary revenues growing 43% in 2009 to €11 billion.

Rudy Daniello, Director, Distribution Product Management, Amadeus, said, “Amadeus is pleased to be the first to offer the industry a full solution for travel agencies that is critical for industry profitability. Travel agencies will now have a single standardised method to issue the sale of all airline services, fully integrated into their system, which will provide a more efficient way of keeping track of spending.”

Amadeus’ EMD rollout for travel agencies is underway in Finland with the first travel agents set to go live in Q1 2011. An additional 20 markets, including ARC markets, will be functional during 2011, with a further 70 markets going live during 2012 and the remaining 70 IATA Billing & Settlement Plan (BSP) markets will be operational in 2013 in order to meet the industry target.

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