MAS TO INVEST RM480 MLN IN PASSENGER SERVICES SYSTEM

PETALING JAYA, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- In an effort to simplify and enhance the travel experience of customers, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is investing RM480 million in its Passenger Services System (PSS) over 10 years.

"We believe that over a period of 10 years it will give us benefits worth over RM2 billion," said managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin.

"This is both in terms of revenue for customers due to the enhancement that we are giving as well as better efficiency that we expect to get from the system," he said at a media joint conference with SITA.

SITA, a specialist in air transport communication and information technology solutions, has been working with MAS on the PSS since May 2006.

The PSS programme is divided into five streams, namely reservation, ticketing, departure control, revenue integrity, and fares management.

The PSS is a key component of the national carrier's Business Turnaround Plan and Business Transformation Plan.

Tengku Azmil said the system had saved MAS more than RM300 million last year.

The airline expects a rise in online sales this year with the PSS in place, but "this is subject to Internet penetration worldwide", he said, declining to give any projection.

Online sales rose to 30 per cent from four per cent in the past 18 months for MAS and 45 per cent for MASwings, he added.

The PSS enabled MAS to achieve 100 per cent e-Ticketing by May 2008, in compliance with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) mandate.

Giving an update on phase two of the PSS, MAS general manager, transition management, Salleh Tabrani, said in the latest phase, the cutover to the new SITA reservations system was successfully concluded at the end of last month.

The airline is now on an integrated SITA platform, allowing customers to enjoy seamless service delivery and a suite of new services, including mobile and Enrich miles redemption online, he said.

"Upgrading to a new reservations platform is the equivalent of a heart transplant for an airline," Salleh said.

"After months of planning, we successfully moved to a new system in 13 hours and transferred some 1.5 million passenger records," he said.

Salleh said more than 3,000 reservations and ticketing staff worldwide were trained in preparation for the change.

The SITA reservations system's suite of products includes reservations, inventory and distribution with code share, automated schedule and re-accommodation management for MAS.

The system, being used by 127 airlines, is the largest independent multi-hosted environment of its kind and MAS is the largest carrier on the SITA platform.

The airline's e-commerce platform is now fully integrated with the SITA system to ensure faster and more streamlined online product delivery, Salleh said. -- BERNAMA

MAS LC