Galileo introduces Airline Private Fares to Asia Pacific

Galileo International, a leading global distribution services company, today announced the availability of Airline Private Fares in Asia Pacific. This is the second phase of Galileo 360º Fares, and a complementary functionality to Agency Private Fares launched in June.

Airline Private Fares enables airlines to file negotiated fare data to Galileo customers using more automated Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCo) categories than any other GDS, including Fare by Rule 'Category 25' and Negotiated Fares 'Category 35' fares. This new solution allows the latest fare data to be available for fare display and quote at a travel agency within a couple of hours of the airline originally posting them with ATPCo. The data filed by the airlines - and transmitted from ATPCo to Galileo - is received electronically, removing the need for any manual intervention, thereby minimizing errors including Agent Debit Memos (ADMs).

"Airline Private Fares is a milestone for Galileo, it dramatically increases the level of automation we are bringing to the entire faring process from the airline to the Galileo agency desktop," said Janie Kaung, executive vice president and managing director of Galileo's Asia Pacific region.

"Complementing Agency Private Fares - our new agency functionality - we now have the most competitive faring capability in the industry. For the first time, Galileo can validate fares against nearly all ATPCo fare rules so airlines can be sure their true intent for rules and restrictions is conveyed to all Galileo users. Airline Private Fares helps agencies maintain their competitive edge by providing fast access to all the latest fares, along with the ability to easily manage the continual fare changes typically made by airlines - all with reduced potential for errors."

Galileo 360º Fares is part of an overall effort to completely automate the fare loading process. The third phase of Galileo 360º Fares - Airline Public Fares - will launch in 2004, allowing airlines to provide published fares via ATPCo and concluding Galileo's full automation of the fares process.