AirAsia : invest new system to handle daily huge bookings

System to boost AirAsia bookings

LOW-COST airline AirAsia Bhd (5099) will invest RM10 million this year in a new system that will double its capacity to handle almost one million bookings a day.

The system, known as New Skies, is developed by US firm Accenture. It will help AirAsia cope with the huge volume of bookings during peak periods and sales promotion.

The current system is old and can no longer cope with the airline's rapid growth, AirAsia regional commercial head Kathleen Tan said yesterday.

The airline has been investing heavily in technology to support its expansion across Asia, Australia and Europe.

It has allocated between RM80 million and RM100 million to its information technology department this year, Tan added.

"We'll spend RM10 million upfront on the system in the first year, and, thereafter, the amount of investment will depend on what kind of functions we want," she told reporters at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur.

Tan said the airline should easily recoup the investment as the new system is expected to boost its ancillary income, among other things.

AirAsia will temporarily shut down bookings this weekend, starting Friday afternoon, while it migrates to the new system, which will be ready for use by 6pm on Sunday.

Tan does not expect the airline to lose much revenue from the shutdown as most of its customers tend to book their flights in advance.

"We'll only be losing last-minute travellers. So I don't think there'll be a huge impact on revenue."

It will be the first time the airline is shutting down its booking engine since starting operations in 2001.

Tan also said that AirAsia hopes to launch additional destinations, including Seoul in South Korea and Haneda in Japan, two to six weeks after the new system is implemented.

 

 

By Adeline Paul Raj

Business Times