Microsoft Travel Technologies to Enhance KLM Web Site
REDMOND, Wash., April 2, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines today announced an alliance to expand the airline’s Web site by including comprehensive travel-booking capabilities and travel content. KLM is the most recent licensee of the Microsoft® Travel Technologies (MTT) platform, whose ranks include both travel agencies and airlines such as Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, American Express and the Microsoft Expedia
™
.com online travel service. The KLM agreement marks the first international point of sale for the MTT platform.
Using Microsoft Travel Technologies, a Microsoft team will redesign the KLM Web site to increase its functionality and to enable customers to book KLM and Northwest Airlines flights, research travel options using multimedia travel guides, and book hotel rooms and rental cars. The expanded site is scheduled to be available in summer 1998 at the current address, (http://www.klm.nl/) , initially for the Netherlands, KLM’s home market. The site supports the KLM-Northwest Airlines alliance effort to consolidate global booking platforms.
“We are delighted to help KLM provide its customers with the best experience for booking KLM tickets on the Web,” said Richard Barton, general manager of the travel business unit at Microsoft. “We created the MTT solution to give travel industry leaders such as KLM the ability to offer more efficient options for their customers to plan and purchase travel.”
The KLM Web site offers travelers another option for researching travel and booking their flights on KLM and its worldwide partners. Travelers will now have the freedom and flexibility to research, reserve and purchase services for all their travel needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“For more than 75 years, KLM has been providing professional service with a high-quality product at a competitive price,” said Eelco P. Folkertsma, project manager, distribution planning, KLM Airlines. “Our goal with the Web service is to expand options for customers to book KLM and partner tickets. We see Microsoft’s superior technology as an ideal complement to our easy-to-use, comprehensive and intuitive site for the millions of KLM travelers online.”
“Northwest Airlines has been extremely pleased with the development of nwa.com as a viable and fast-growing distribution channel, and we are pleased to consolidate efforts with KLM,” said Al Lenza, vice president, distribution planning, Northwest Airlines. “Our relationship with Microsoft and Worldspan has been integral to this success.”
The Microsoft Travel Technologies platform includes the back-office server and end-user application for making complete air, hotel and car rental reservations via the Internet. The platform is designed with the Microsoft BackOffice® family of products (including the Windows NT Server operating system, Microsoft Internet Information Server and Microsoft SQL Server).
Other Leisure and Business Applications
The Microsoft Travel Technologies platform powers Northwest Airlines at (http://www.flynwa.com/) , Continental Airlines at (http://cooltravelassistant.com/) , and Microsoft’s independent online leisure travel agency, Expedia.com at (http://expedia.com/) . To serve corporations and corporate travelers, Microsoft joined American Express to create American
Express Interactive (AXI), also powered by MTT. Further information is located at http://www.americanexpress.com/
corporateservices/booking/travel/docs/axi.html.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded on Oct. 7, 1919. It has continued to operate under the same name to this day, making it the oldest scheduled airline in the world with a continuous history. KLM’s mission is to excel in the quality of its connections, as European participant in one of the leading global airline systems. To date, KLM has carried more than 200 million passengers worldwide.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Expedia, BackOffice and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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