Airbnb made public filings on Tuesday showing that its acquisition of AI company GamePlanner.AI was paid partially with stock valued at about $104.5 million.
26.10.2023 - 20:06 / skift.com / Justin Dawes
Amadeus is piloting a new AI-powered retail system meant to make airlines sales more like shopping on Amazon.
The new Amadeus Nevio system is meant to help airlines more easily sell its own products as well as other travel products like hotels. For the customer, that means a simple app for tracking everything.
The long-term goal is to move away from separate – and confusing – systems for airline tickets, check-in, ancillary airfare products, airport lounge visits, and other services.
“It’s about getting all this to the next level, connecting the dots, tying it together,” said Cyril Tetaz, executive vice president of airline solutions for Amadeus.
“Like when I’m on Amazon, I can simply pass from the stage of having a shopping basket where you may order, which is going to be the basis for delivery. And that’s going to be cascaded to all the partners that are going to contribute to that delivery, because they’ve been contributing to that offer.”
The Amadeus Nevio system uses AI in partnership with Microsoft, which has exclusive access to ChatGPT’s tech as an early investor in OpenAI.
Amadeus imagines an app that can make personalized offers, anticipate issues, and automate the flight rescheduling process.
The industry as it exists is built on systems of siloed data and decades-old technology. That makes it difficult to share information for accurate and efficient sales within one company, let alone third-party companies like hotels. That’s changing, albeit slowly.
“Very much the same way I go to Amazon and I get my context recognized, and I get offers that are more relevant to me, it entices me more to be able to shop. I want the shopping and ordering process to be synced,” Tetaz said.
Some of those platform features include remembering where a traveler left off during shopping. That means offering a holiday package based on browsing history, and making personalized ancillary product offers like extra-legroom seats and airport transfers.
If there is a flight cancellation or other disruption, the traveler is sent alternative flight and hotel options to their mobile phone. It may also offer something like discounted lounge access. These updates would happen automatically across the entire trip, including changes to hotel stays and transportation.
The traveler would avoid check-in altogether and use biometrics to speed the journey through the airport.
Amadeus is encouraging airline clients to transition from the legacy version of this technology, a system called Altéa.
Nevio falls into the “offer and order” model of airline retailing — which basically means selling products through personalized methods — that industry leaders have been talking about for several years. McKinsey has estimated that
Airbnb made public filings on Tuesday showing that its acquisition of AI company GamePlanner.AI was paid partially with stock valued at about $104.5 million.
Antonoaldo Neves arrived on the scene of Middle Eastern aviation in October 2022 as CEO of the Etihad Aviation Group. He was fresh from his role as CEO of TAP, the National Airline of Portugal, where he led a major turnaround.
The number of air travel complaints filed with the U.S. Transportation Department soared during the first quarter of 2023 through to May, 2023, according to newly published data by the department.
The strong post-pandemic air travel boom continued across the globe this September, according to research conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), published November 9.
Airbnb said Tuesday that it has acquired an AI company founded by a creator of Siri. The company, called GamePlanner.AI, is a 12-person AI company that has been developing outside of the public eye since it was founded.
Uber is working on a lot of projects to push its business beyond its traditional focus.
Thanksgiving may come with a heaping side of travel headaches this year. In its annual travel forecast, the American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts that 55.4 million people—2.3 percent more than last year—will venture more than 50 miles from home this year. (The forecast tracks trends during the five-day period from the Wednesday before the holiday through the Sunday after.) To put this into perspective, it marks the third busiest year since the association started tracking data in 2000.
Taylor Swift kicked off her South American tour with three sellout crowds at Buenos Aires’ Monumental Stadium, the home venue of Club Atlético River Plate and the Argentinian national soccer teams.
Americans can expect busy roads and airports when they visit family and friends this Thanksgiving holiday.
LATAM Airlines, South America's largest carrier, is bending the rules for Taylor Swift fans after the star postponed her Friday night show in Buenos Aires.
The Danish government unveiled on Thursday its plan to impose a roughly $14 tax on air travel to help fund its aviation industry’s sustainability efforts.
Amadeus and Microsoft have been working together to explore how generative AI can be integrated into new technologies for the travel industry.