June 2, 2018 TnH Global 9

Amadeus launches its Airport Common Use Service (ACUS) for India

The launch of Amadeus ACUS will mean airports in India can offer a futuristic, more efficient and convenient check-in service as the number of international and domestic travelers increases.

Amadeus introduced the ‘Airport Common Use Service’ (ACUS) to key stakeholders in the Indian aviation industry at India’s first Common Use Roundtable, an event hosted by Amadeus and Bird Group.

Imagine being checked-in for your flight at the hotel or at your congress center before you leave for the airport. These are just some of the options that Amadeus’ Airport Common Use Service (ACUS) offers to improve the way airports and airlines serve their passengers.

India has experienced a six-fold increase in air passenger numbers over the past decade as its citizens take advantage of better connectivity and cheaper fares[1]. With this hike in travelers comes more congested airports. The architecture of Amadeus ACUS allows ‘fixed’ check-in counters to be rapidly redeployed anywhere within the terminal, and to ‘off airport’ locations, to enable the airport to access additional passenger capacity on demand to meet short notice or seasonal fluctuations.

To mark the launch of ACUS in India, Amadeus and Bird Group held India’s first Common Use Roundtable on May 17th and 18th in New Delhi, the event brought together India’s senior airline and airport industry leaders to share insights, learnings and to create a vision for the future of Common Use in the country.

Fast and easy to implement, with ACUS and an internet connection (e.g. Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G mobile telecommunications), passenger processing services can be easily extended to include off-airport locations such as hotels, exhibitions, convention centers, train stations and cruise liners. ACUS can be used on any device including laptops and relocatable devices. The adoption of ACUS will allow airports to eliminate costly on-site systems, lowering their operational expenses and minimizing their environmental impact.

Airlines will also be able to reduce costs owing to centralized connectivity to airports and simplified passenger processing with offering new-generation, multiple choice, enhanced check-in services to its passengers. This will further enhancing passenger experience.

Sarah Samuel, Head of Airport IT, Asia Pacific of Amadeus says, “The rapid growth of passengers traveling in India[2] means airports are under a lot pressure. Now more than ever, they need to think differently to provide the service expected by consumers.

The airport industry has advanced tremendously from the days of dedicated airline check-in desks towards a much more flexible and shared environment. Globally, we are now seeing airports ready to embrace change in order to maximise commercial and operational performance.

Airlines are already running many critical applications that are centrally hosted and accesible by their agents via the internet, we are now seeing the airport industry follow this trend with Amadeus ACUS. Our platform has enabled the airport ecosystem to use its resources more intelligently, ultimately improving the passenger experience and taking the next step towards becoming the airport of the future. We look forward to working with airports in India and establishing a place for ACUS in the market place.”

Rajesh Suri, EVP, Business Development, Bird Group shared “Airports and airlines around the world are looking at how new technologies and solutions can improve passenger experience and

operations throughout the airport. Behind the scenes and in front of the passenger, we are pleased to introduce ACUS to India. It is indeed a milestone moment for us as we demonstrate our commitment to offer best-in-class solutions to our business partners across the Indian subcontinent”.

Not only does ACUS provide more flexiblity in operations and reduced passenger processing costs for airlines, it also delivers substantial energy savings reducing the overall CO2 emissions of airports. Already implemented in over 30 destinations across the globe, ACUS is a highly competitive solution.

Amadeus ACUS’ key features include:

Application virtualization technology – reduces airports’ need for on-site equipment, saving costs and space
Delivered via SaaS model, centrally hosted in a state-of-the-art data center – allows scalability and resilience for any size airport, airline and ground handler
Based on secure network connectivity and 4G communications – fast and easy to deploy and maintain, able to run operations both on and off the airport
Connection to all airline Departure Control System and airport applications – cost effective and centralized connectivity for airlines expanding their network to new airports whilst lowering network costs
Complete end-to-end solution delivery – from software to end-user hardware with 24-7 on-site support
Compatible with industry standards (CUPPS¹ and PCI²) – providing a secure and reliable solution
Energy saving – with one Common Use platform for all airports versus Common Use at every airport, ACUS delivers substantial energy cost savings related to power and cooling as well as an overal reduction in CO2 emissions