Amadeus, a leading Global Distribution System (GDS) and travel industry technology provider, has announced the roll-out of 676711, a specialised SMS-based service providing instant travel-related updates to end users. The two-way instant messaging facility will provide users instant information about flight availability, flight schedules and seat availability, on their mobile handsets.

Mobile users of most service providers — Airtel, Hutch, Reliance, Idea, Escotal, MTNL, Spice and BPL — can now SMS flight information requests to 676711, and get an SMS giving information about their specific query. Its comprehensive global GDS data processing centre serves 65,250 travel agency locations and more than 12,600 airline sales offices. Together, these total more than 290,700 points of sale located in over 200 markets world-wide.

Through the Amadeus GDS, travel agencies and airline offices are able to make bookings with 469 airlines, representing more than 95 per cent of the world's scheduled airline seats. The system also provides access to 56,000 hotels, 48 car rental companies serving some 24,900 locations, and other provider groups including: ferry; rail; cruise; insurance and tour operators.

The Amadeus system's computerised interface enables travel service providers like airlines, hotels and car rental companies, to disseminate information about their schedules, as well as the availability, pricing and ticketing of their worldwide services seamlessly and in real time to their end users, who include travel agencies, corporate travel departments, airline ticket offices (ATOs) and city ticket offices (CTOs). Amadeus India's client base extends to more than 5,500 travel agencies in India today.

Amadeus India has more than a 50 per cent market share in the Indian subcontinent. With more than 12,000 terminal installations and 5,500 agencies online in 31 cities across the region, it provides complete IT-enabled services for the Indian travel and tourism industry. Since it started operations in 1994, the company has established 30 offices including country offices in Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu.

Amadeus is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with a data centre in Erding (near Munich, Germany). For the year ended 31 December 2002, the company reported revenues of 1,856 million Euros and a net income of 148.6 million Euros. The company has some 5,100 employees worldwide.