Regional Round-Up
China breakthrough for Abacus and Amadeus
February 1st 2014
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has granted licences to Global Distribution System (GDS) owners, Singapore’s Abacus and European controlled Amadeus that will allow them greater access to China’s travel market. Read More » The CAAC decision gives the two providers the right to directly handle outbound sales of tickets on foreign airlines operating in the country. They will also be permitted to market and sell hotel bookings and foreign travel services for some Chinese tour agencies. Until now, all such bookings had to go through China’s monopoly GDS, Travelsky Technology. Abacus and Amadeus said they were in talks with several Chinese tour companies about the new system, which should be operating in 12 to 18 months. However, the system remains complicated by the requirement that foreign airlines offering outbound flights from China and Chinese tour agencies selling overseas travel will have to apply for permits to deal directly with the two foreign GDSs. Chinese tourists spent US$102 billion in 2012 in the offshore travel and retail business, with spending rising in high double digits figures each year.
