Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, and Qantas have signed an extension to their existing agreements which will see both companies continue working together until 2017. The extended agreements cover the Altea customer management and online solutions that Amadeus currently provides to the airline, as well as a framework for the introduction and development of additional products and solutions in the future.

Qantas Chief Information Officer, John Willett, said the seven-year relationship was based on collaboration and innovation.

"The development of Altea, which has become the leading customer management solution for airlines, has been a milestone for the industry and we expect that the next 10 years will help us to innovate further.

"Earlier this year, Qantas commenced roll-out of a new load control system, Altea DC-Flight Management, with no disruption to our service, something we have come to expect in all our work with Amadeus," Mr Willett said.

David Jones, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Amadeus, commented: "By signing an extension of the agreements to 2017, before those agreements were due to expire, Amadeus and Qantas have committed to maximising the benefits of our existing customer management and online solutions as well as looking at the role technology solutions will play in the future. Building on our successful partnership with Qantas, we will continue to develop solutions that help airlines secure competitive advantage."

Under the extended agreements, Qantas will also adopt additional solutions including Amadeus Ticket Changer, which will automate the ticket change and re-issue process from any location in any currency, and Amadeus Service Fee Manager, which will allow the airline to accurately capture revenue flows and improve profitability. In addition, Amadeus will also set up a Competency Centre for Qantas at the Amadeus Product and Development hub in Nice. This will support e-commerce operations for the airline and complement an existing IT development centre in Sydney.

Qantas was the launch customer for Amadeus' Altea Customer Management Solution and today uses all three modules - Altea Reservation, Altea Inventory and Altea Departure Control (DC) - to manage its sales and reservations, inventory and flight departure management needs. The final module of Altea DC, a new check-in, boarding and baggage management solution, is due to be implemented for the airline in 2008. Qantas is also a user of Amadeus' e-commerce solutions and cut over to Amadeus e-Retail Engine in 2002.