STAR ALLIANCE SPEARHEADS DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-CARRIER WIRELESS TRAVEL SUPPORT

Star Alliance the airline network for Earth, today revealed plans to become the first global airline partnership to adopt the digital environment and provide travellers with important support information to ease travel through the 12-member, 15-airline alliance.

At a meeting of its Chief Executive Board in London, Star Alliance announced the availability of downloadable, automatically updated timetables for PC’s and personal digital assistants displaying more than 9,000 daily flights operated by the Star Alliance member airlines.

Later this year, a global flight information and notification service will also be introduced.

Star Alliance has decided to run the electronic timetables through a consumer test so that customers may try them out and report their experience of using the system. This valuable input will form an important basis for possible future refinements of the service.

Conducting such a test is in line with Star Alliance’s philosophy of providing products and services which customers want.

“Extensive research confirms that our key customers, who are the frequent international travellers, use technology and expect to give them the technological solutions that can simplify their travel. We will deliver a service that allows them to easily interact globally with Star Alliance around the clock, seven days a week, using devices with which they are familiar”, said Paul Van Doninck, Director, Star Alliance Seamless Service and Product Development. Mr. Van Doninck heads the development of e-commerce initiatives within the global airline partnership.

Star Alliance plans to implement electronic services step-by-step. It has positioned its public website www.staralliance.com as a portal for the new services. The website has a new visual design and has been enhanced so that users will find it easy to navigate and use.

Star Alliance’s own IT network StarNet, which links the computer systems of all the member airlines and allows non-compatible systems to literally talk to each other, plays a critical role in providing global wireless services to Star Alliance customers. It constitutes the infrastructure giving customers access to systems operated by all the member carriers.

Many airlines already offer mobile electronic services, but they are limited to one airline and national or regionally international footprints and consequently of limited use. Travellers need quick access to important flight information wherever they find themselves. Star Alliance is in a unique position to provide that support, and often before the traveller may even know he or she needs it,“ said Paul Van Doninck.

“Our members have a clear understanding of customer needs in different regions of the world and have developed wireless services that specifically address those needs. We are going to leverage the partner airlines‘ technical and regional expertise to offer electronic services worldwide and across the alliance. The global Star Alliance offerings will comprise the best of what our individual members are providing in their home markets, with additional Star Alliance-specific services. These support services will be available no matter how many borders are being crossed or how many alliance partners are included in the customer‘s itinerary. It will be a major step forward in our efforts to provide seamless service to frequent international travellers,” he said.

The downloadable timetables which Star Alliance has made available today enable customers to interact with the Star Alliance website and pack their PC‘s or personal digital assistants with useful information to take with them on their travels. More than 9,000 daily flights are being listed, making it simple to plan or change an itinerary while on the road. Every time the pc or pda is synchronized, any updates to the timetable will be automatically performed.

The wireless flight information system scheduled to be launched later this year will provide real-time information through SMS or email about any Star Alliance-operated flight, whether it is on time, delayed or cancelled. At the same time a flight notification service will also be introduced, giving customers the freedom to decide how and when they want to be informed about the status of their Star Alliance flight, or if another party should be notified.

Star Alliance was established in May 1997 by several of the world’s leading airlines to provide global reach and seamless service for frequent international travellers. Current members of the global airline partnership include Air Canada, the Air New Zealand Group (Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia), ANA – All Nippon Airways, the Austrian Airlines Group (Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways), bmi british midland, Lufthansa German Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, United Airlines and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. Together the Star Alliance members serve 894 airports in 129 countries with a combined fleet of more than 2,000 aircraft.