Amadeus Germany
| Amadeus Germany GmbH
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|---|---|
_Logo.svg){kind=logo} |
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1971 |
| Seat | Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , Germany |
| management | Uta Martens (Management) |
| Branch | Software manufacturer |
| Website | www.de.amadeus.com |
The Amadeus Germany GmbH is a leading provider of IT solutions for the travel industry, based in Bad Homburg in the state of Hesse . Founded in 1971, the company supplies a comprehensive range of services for the sale of all kinds of tourism services, for example for travel agencies, call centers or the Internet.
In Germany, the company registered around 45,000 licenses for the Amadeus system. The following providers can be booked in Germany: 470 airlines, over 145,000 hotels plus content from several large hotel aggregators, over 240 travel and bus operators, 77 transport associations, 40 European railways, 44 rental companies, six insurance providers, 22 ferry and 15 cruise operators .
Amadeus IT Group SA is a shareholder of Amadeus Germany . The Amadeus Group employs around 13,000 people worldwide and is represented by Amadeus Commercial Organizations with headquarters in Madrid (headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations) as well as at 71 other locations around the world.
history
Study society for the automation of travel and tourism
At the end of the sixties it became clear that travel agencies would soon have to install computer terminals from several tour operators, because there was no standardized reservation system ; only a few big players in the industry were able to finance the corresponding expenditure. These considerations were the triggering factor in early 1971 for the establishment of the “Start - Study Society for Automation for Travel and Tourism GmbH” (START for short).
The working group consisted of representatives from the companies Deutsche Lufthansa , Deutsche Bundesbahn , Touristik Union International ( TUI ) as well as Official Bavarian Travel Agency GmbH (abr), German Travel Agency GmbH (DER) and Hapag-Lloyd Travel Agency GmbH. After various analyzes, START submitted a proposal for an electronic travel reservation and information system that could handle all processes associated with the offer and brokerage of travel services.
START data technology for travel and tourism
In 1976 the study company was transformed into the operating company Start Datentechnik für Reise und Touristik GmbH . The shareholders were Deutsche Bundesbahn, Deutsche Lufthansa and TUI, each with 25 percent shares. The remaining 25 percent was split equally between the travel agency chains abr, DER and Hapag-Lloyd.
After several tenders, Siemens received the order for the turnkey implementation of the start system in 1977. In 1978 the first central unit for the data center was delivered. START began operations in mid-1979: The first START Terminal was put into operation on June 13, 1979 at DER in Frankfurt am Main Central Station . The reservation of TUI offers was possible first. In August 1979 the reservation function of Deutsche Lufthansa was added. In 1980, the Deutsche Bundesbahn offered seat booking and ticket issuance via START, TUI travel confirmations could be issued, as well as Deutsche Lufthansa tickets.
Not only could all travel services be booked via a terminal, but related activities such as invoicing and data collection for accounting could also be carried out. The affiliated travel agencies were now printing 150,000 tickets a month via START, although the majority were still issued manually.
BTX and PCs as new media
In 1982 around 2,000 START devices were installed. More than 22 million sales documents were printed out via the system this year, the total value of which was put at 7.3 billion DM. In 1983 the BTX RB Reiseberatung GmbH was founded together with DERPART , the aim of which was to make the services of the START system available to travel agencies via the more cost-effective BTX system . The first generation of the START terminals was exchanged for modern Siemens terminals. And euro checks and bank transfers could now be printed in the travel agency with a special document printer.
In 1987 the next generation of PC -based terminals was introduced. In contrast to the previous terminals, which were only used to query data on the central START computer, data in the travel agency could now also be processed locally on the PC. The so-called KART procedure for ticket sales via START can now be used by travel agencies. Payments by credit card were now also possible via START.
Upheaval and expansion
The 10,000th START terminal was connected in May 1989. Siemens-Nixdorf developed the START Board, a plug-in card for the PC to ensure data and print security on PCs as well.
In 1990 the technical connection between the START computer in Frankfurt am Main and the Amadeus computer in Erding was established. START began with the transition from the Deutsche Lufthansa reservation system to Amadeus.
In 1993 START opened further regional offices in Frankfurt am Main and Düsseldorf. Two new subsidiaries in Hungary and Turkey were also founded. The START machine prototype was set up at Munich Central Station . It was the forerunner of today's long-distance ticket machines of the Deutsche Bahn.
Around 2,000 ATB printers, which can be used to print flight tickets with magnetic strips on the back, have been installed in the travel agencies. The customer received a printout at the travel agency that he could use to check in electronically at the airport. In 1994 a total of 88 million bookings were made via the START system, and the affiliated travel agencies issued 132 million receipts.
Start of the merger
The alliance between START and Amadeus was decided in March 1996. In June 1996 Lufthansa and TUI agreed that Lufthansa would take over the START shares from TUI, in return TUI would receive the shares in Airtours. Lufthansa now holds two thirds and Deutsche Bahn AG one third of the shares.
In 1997 the strategic alliance between START and Amadeus was completed: The shareholders of both companies approved the sale of 50 percent of the shares in START Informatik GmbH to Amadeus Global Travel Distribution SA, Madrid. START Holding GmbH and Amadeus are therefore equal partners in START Informatik.
In December 1996 Amadeus took over all START shares in START Seyahat Pazarlama in Istanbul, START Hellas in Athens, START Hungaria in Budapest and Amadeus Austria in Salzburg. The Moscow branch and activities in the CIS countries were continued by Amadeus.
In December 1997, Deutsche Bahn AG and Lufthansa agreed that Lufthansa would take over the START shares in Deutsche Bahn AG, and in return Deutsche Bahn AG would receive Lufthansa's shares in Deutsches Reisebüro GmbH (DER). At that time Lufthansa was the sole shareholder of START.
In 1997 START Holding, START Informatik and START Amadeus Vertrieb were merged into one GmbH. Outwardly, the travel distribution system has since represented these three companies as START Amadeus GmbH. The two subsidiaries START Ticket GmbH and START Media Plus GmbH continued to exist. To expand the company's international orientation, Lufthansa planned to sell 34 percent of the START shares to the Amadeus global distribution system in 1999.
In August 1999 the EU approved an Amadeus stake in START Amadeus GmbH in the amount of 34 percent agreed with Lufthansa. The START data center in Frankfurt am Main moved to the Amadeus data center in Erding near Munich.
Amadeus was founded as a private partnership and then went public in Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid in October 1999.
Merger in 2001
In December 2001, Start took the final step towards merging with Amadeus. The supervisory boards of Lufthansa and Amadeus agreed that the previous 34 percent shareholder Amadeus Global Travel Distribution SA, Madrid, would take over the remaining 66 percent of the shares, which previously belonged to Lufthansa Commercial Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Start Amadeus was integrated into Amadeus in March 2003 and renamed Amadeus Germany GmbH .
Since 2005
In 2005 Amadeus was taken off the stock exchange in Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid. At that time, BC Partners and Cinven bought shares in the company from three of the four airlines that Amadeus co-founded. The remaining capital came from smaller shareholders.
In 2006 the name was changed to Amadeus IT Group .
Since April 2010, the shares of Amadeus IT Holding, SA (Amadeus) (parent company of Amadeus IT Group, SA) have been traded on the stock exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.
Amadeus Germany GmbH is Germany's leading travel distribution system. It supplies comprehensive products for the sale of tourist services via sales channels such as travel agencies, call centers or the Internet.
Web links
- amadeus.com - Official website of the Amadeus IT Group
- amadeus.com/de - Official website of Amadeus Germany