Travelport GDS announces new partnership with Royal Jordanian Airlines

Royal Jordanian Airlines has been distributing the Galileo system to travel agents in Jordan since 1991 and the new agreement marks the start of an even closer, direct distributor relationship between the two organisations.

Over the past 17 years, Galileo has established itself as the leading GDS provider in the Middle East. The agreement with Royal Jordanian Airlines follows Travelport's announcement earlier in the year of a multi-million dollar (US) investment in the region to set up its own operations to support travel agents in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt and to refine its distributor relationships in selected countries, including Jordan. The new direct partnership with Royal Jordanian will begin when Galileo's contract with the Arabi Group expires at the end of 2008.

"The partnership forged today marks an important milestone for Travelport as we streamline operations in the region and focus on refining our distributor relationships. Royal Jordanian has proved to be a highly effective distribution partner for us and has unrivalled knowledge of the Jordanian travel market - we were therefore very keen to continue working together as we ramp up our operations in the region,"

said Rabih Saab, Travelport GDS' Vice President for the Middle East.

"Galileo is the leading GDS system in the region and we are delighted to be renewing this very effective partnership to continue to serve travel agents and suppliers who rely on the efficiency of Galileo," stated Hussein Dabbas, Vice President/Marketing, Sales and Services at Royal Jordanian. "We were also impressed by Travelport's commitment to Jordan and its plans to roll out new and innovative products in the region."

Over the past year, Travelport GDS has increased its presence in the Middle East with the acquisition of Worldspan, which has a well-established and successful business in several key markets and a wholly-owned operation in Egypt. Travelport GDS has also opened new offices in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt and strengthened its management team across the region.

"The Middle East is a dynamic region for travel and one which will continue to grow considerably over the coming years. We firmly believe that by enhancing our relationships with effective distributors in selected markets such as Jordan, coupled with building more substantial, wholly-owned operations across the region, we will be well-positioned to augment our business in this important region," continued Saab.