FAA MOVES TO CURB SMALLER JETS AT LGA P. 6
www.tt r a v e ll w eeeekkllyy..ccoomm
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
S ME OP TNETMHB EXRX , 4 , 2 20 00056
[ AMADEUS TO REIMBURSE SEGMENT FEES ]
Amex Business Travel reveals
it won’t use any GDS optionals
By Dennis Schaal and Andrew Compart
With the Sept. 1 deadline looming and five
major U.S. airlines set to impose new fees
on travel agencies booking through nonpreferred channels, American Express Business Travel signed on a new airline partner,
United, and revealed that it
would not participate in any
GDS optional program.
“Because we anticipated
the industry changes, today
we have the opportunity to
not charge the vast majority of our business travel
customers for the new costs
associated with emerging
GDS opt-in and airline surcharge models going into effect Sept. 1,” said Andrew Winter-ton, senior vice president of Global Supplier
Relations for American Express’ corporate
travel unit.
Amex Business Travel, the world’s largest
travel management company, has an advantage over the vast majority of its competitors, having built its own distribution
platform, the TravelBahn DS (Distribution
Solution), that now includes content from
United, American, Continental and probably
several other carriers.
Amex’s statement about
its relative fortunes came
as Amadeus took steps last
week to compensate agencies for Northwest’s and
American’s $3.50-per-seg-
ment surcharges. At the
same time, Sabre introduced a bonus incentive
program designed to shield
agencies from American’s fees — and to dissuade them from booking American through
other distribution sources.
In the cases of Northwest for Amadeus
and Sabre for American, at least, the GDSs
Continued on Page 64
‘We are negotiating
with Amadeus, but we
remain far apart on
reaching an agreement.’
— Kurt Ebenhoch, NWA spokesman
[ NEW ENTREE TO EUROPEAN, LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS ]
Royal Caribbean to buy Pullmantur,
Spain’s largest operator, for $900M
By Johanna Jainchill
Royal Caribbean Cruises said last week it had
reached an agreement to buy Spanish cruise
operator Pullmantur for $900 million.
Pullmantur, which operates five ships,
is based in Madrid and is the largest cruise
WORLD BEAT
Officials in Tel Aviv walk- Taking river
Mexico down- ing tours take cruising on the
play impact of in Bauhaus Yangtze to the
protests. architecture. next level.
P. 50 P. 48 P. 45
operator in Spain. It also offers land tours in
Europe and Latin America.
“This offers a terrific strategic opportunity
to further penetrate the emerging and rapidly growing European and Latin American
markets,” Richard Fain, RCCL’s CEO, said in
a conference call with investors. “It supports
our focus in becoming a more significant
player in the European holiday market.”
Fain said the acquisition would diversify
RCCL’s source market and product offerings. RCCL signed an agreement with Pullmantur’s shareholders to buy all of its capital
stock for $551 million, plus its net debt of
about $346 million.
RCCL said Pullmantur would continue
operating the same itineraries as it does now,
except for Cuba. The agreement stipulates
that Pullmantur must pull its business out of
Cuba before the deal can close.
Pullmantur won’t change management,
headquarters or the shipboard experience,
said RCCL spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein.
Continued on Page 65
FIRST OF A SEVEN-PART SERIES
TRAVEL+MONE Y
How the Industry
Really Works
THIS WEEK
AIRLINES
100 years after the first flight, viable business models
still elude many carriers
BY ANDREW COMPART
PAGE 15
