(16/02/23) American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has renewed its strategic long-term technology agreement with Amadeus.
Amex GBT’s B2B travel platform will use a broad range of Amadeus solutions through the renewed technology collaboration to deliver servicing and support for customers, and to provide state of the art disruption management solutions.
Amex GBT will use the Amadeus Travel Platform to offer the widest possible range of content, including NDC-sourced content, to customers in an efficient, scalable way through the Amex GBT marketplace.
Aircraft flying overhead. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com
Rajiv Rajian, Amadeus EVP and Chief Commercial Officer Travel – Americas, said, “Our new agreement with Amex GBT focuses on meeting traveler demands of today and tomorrow, delivering the right content and the right services at the right moment in the traveler’s journey. Our reach across the travel ecosystem means we can connect the dots in ways that help overcome content fragmentation. Combined with Amex GBT’s expertise and customer servicing, together we can build the journeys and experiences travelers want. We look forward to working with Amex GBT to support their growth for many years to come.”
Amex GBT is one of the world’s leading B2B travel platforms, providing software and services to manage travel, expenses, and meetings & events for companies of all sizes.
In December 2022, Amex GBT published Air Monitor 2023 which forecast widespread air fare price rises around the world, due to a range of factors including inflation, rising fuel costs and capacity issues.
The annual report found price changes likely to vary widely by region, with distinctions across the two hemispheres.
Europe-North America routes are expected to see modest rises of 3.7%, while intra-European flights could see stronger price rises (6% in the business cabin, 5.5% in economy) as airline capacity recovery lags behind the resurgence of demand. North American domestic fares are expected to see moderate rises (3.4% business, 2.9% economy) as more capacity comes online in 2023.
In Asia, price rises are forecast to be sharper, with economy flights to and from Europe up 12%, 7.6% in the business cabin. Asia-North America flights are also slated to see significant rises (5.6% business, 9.8% economy), while Australian domestic flights are forecast to rise 19.4% in the business cabin. Some countries in the Asia-Pacific region were slower to reopen after COVID19 travel restrictions, and an increase in demand combined with relatively strong economic prospects could put upwards pressure on prices.
Rajiv Ahluwalia, Amex GBT’s EVP, Global Supplier Partnerships, said, “Having the most valuable marketplace in travel means delivering the best-in-class air, hotel, and ground content, along with a full suite of servicing products and capabilities for our clients. As a key partner, Amadeus is ideally placed to help us deliver value for customers and suppliers and continue to bring innovation into the marketplace.”
