Amadeus posts solid first-quarter results, scores new airline industry certification

Amadeus posts solid first-quarter results, scores new airline industry certification
By Travel Weekly


Travel tech giant Amadeus has maintained its positive growth trend in the first quarter of 2019, as well as reaffirming its commitment to the technical evolution of its airline customers.

The company posted an adjusted profit of €334.7 million ($541.1 million) for the three months to 31 March 2019 – up 9.5 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Amadeus’ revenue for the quarter rose 14.6 per cent to €1409.9 million ($2.2 billion), with IT solutions revenue jumping 31.2 per cent and distribution revenue rising 5.6 per cent.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation grew 11.3 per cent to €599.8 million ($969.8 million).

The company attributed the solid growth to the operating performances of its distribution and IT solutions businesses, as well as the consolidation of TravelClick since October last year.

Amadeus’ travel agency air bookings increased by 1.6 per cent in the quarter to 162.6 million (down 12.6 per cent in the Asia Pacific), while the number of passengers boarded using its tech rose 4.6 per cent to 436.1 million (up 4.4 per cent in Asia and the Pacific).

Amadeus TA air bookings (Q1 2019)

Amadeus total passengers boarded (Q1 2019)

Luis Maroto, president and CEO of Amadeus, said: “Within a complex travel industry environment, Amadeus has maintained its good momentum into 2019, with healthy growth levels in both of its core segments.

“In distribution, we continued to expand content for our subscribers and increased our competitive positioning in terms of air bookings.

“Our IT solutions also performed positively, thanks to a growth in passengers boarded, an increase in upselling and new functionalities for our customers, and the addition of TravelClick to the Amadeus family.

“I am confident that thanks to the resilience of our business and the broadening of our customer base, we will continue to deliver good growth in 2019.”

Amadeus has also achieved certification on the ONE Order standard as a capable Order Management System by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Fabrizio Calcabrini, executive vice president of airline solutions at Amadeus, said the company sees ONE Order as a simplification initiative in line with its broader vision to transform the way travel is consumed.

Combined with a unique traveller-centric approach, Calcabrini said ONE Order will provide airlines with more flexible dynamic offers, a personalised experience, seamless shopping, delivery, and real- time financial flows.

Beyond the technology, Calcabrini said the transformation also unveils opportunities to simplify and enhance airline business processes, organisation and culture.

“Amadeus’ ambition is to lead and support airlines as they simplify and grow their businesses to become true customer-centric travel retailers, while ensuring a seamless transition and day-to-day business continuity,” he said.

“Amadeus is driving this transformation, with ONE Order as part of this journey, and working towards alignment across the industry. We have always said that industry change will only happen if there is close collaboration between all travel players.”

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