Malaysia Airlines has completed its transition to the SITA Reservations platform in an operation that took just 13 hours and involved the successful transfer of almost 1.5 million passenger records. Malaysia Airlines CEO, Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin, said, “This is a significant milestone for Malaysia Airlines and opens up a future of great commercial possibilities through the use of SITA’s Horizon portfolio. It is the critical piece in the jigsaw we have been assembling with SITA over the last three years.

“Upgrading to a new reservations platform is the equivalent of a heart transplant for an airline. Over 3,000 Reservations and Ticketing staff have been fully trained in preparation for this change. Malaysia Airlines already has one of the highest online booking penetrations of any full service carrier in Asia and this will continue to grow, increasing revenue and reducing costs.”

The SITA Reservations suite of products includes reservations, inventory and distribution with code share, automated schedule and re-accommodation management for the 14 million passenger Kuala Lumpur-based carrier. Francesco Violante, SITA CEO, said, “SITA is a proud partner of Malaysia Airlines and this successful cutover to SITA Reservations sets a new industry benchmark for how such a complex project can be delivered with minimal disruption to the airline and its passengers. A team of 500 Malaysia Airlines and SITA staff worked tirelessly to ensure that the switchover went smoothly from midnight on October 31 to about noon on Sunday November 1 2009.

“The most striking statistic of all is that only 67 Passenger Name Records needed to be reworked during the cutover to SITA’s platform. This is quite a remarkable achievement and represents just 0.005% of the total of 1,472,416. This shows the value of the test runs which were executed smoothly and the whole project has been delivered on time and within budget thanks to meticulous planning and the spirit of collaboration and partnership that exists in the joint Malaysia Airlines and SITA project team.”

Speaking about Malaysia Airlines $130 million investment in its Passenger Services System (PSS), Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin said, “The introduction of the PSS is our commitment to simplifying air travel, offering customers more choices and a straightforward process. The PSS provides our customers with the flexibility and ease of booking and checking-in at their own convenience. As a global carrier, we understand the importance of embracing today’s technological advancement to ensure that our passengers enjoy seamless service.”

As part of a ten-year $130 million contract, SITA has also implemented an upgraded Departure Control System which allows Malaysia Airlines to offer self-service options to passengers including kiosk and web check-in. The PSS includes an e-commerce platform which saw online sales rise from 4% to 30% online in the 18 months to September 2009. SITA has also helped to eliminate revenue leakage through an integrity and protection programme by ensuring the authentication of every booking.