Eurostar will bookable by end of Feb, says Amadeus
Amadeus claims most of its business travel agents should be able to book Eurostar through the GDS by the end of the month.
Much fanfare greeted the news back in 2006 that agents would at last be able to compare Eurostar fares alongside airline fares and book within the GDS environment.
But the path has not been smooth and Eurostar put the migration on hold at the end of 2007 as all focus had to be switched to the St Pancras move in November.
Amadeus UK and Ireland managing director Stephane Durand explained: “There was a problem with the farefiling system – the way fares are loaded – but this problem has been resolved and by the end of February the majority of agents will be able to book Eurostar on any GDS.”
However, a spokesman for Eurostar said it could not yet give a going live date for GDS bookings.
Meanwhile, Amadeus’s Durand commented on the continuing battle between Easyjet and TMCs on the surcharge that the budget carrier makes on all bookings not made on its website.
“The two need each other and I think they will come to a solution because agents love having Easyjet on the GDS and Easyjet like the high yields that business travel brings,” he said.
He also hinted that more low-cost carriers would follow in the wake of Easyjet’s arrival on the GDSs but would not reveal which ones, saying only: “They are based in Europe… not Dublin.”
By Dinah Hatch
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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