Nine European airlines have launched a Web-based travel agency called Opodo, with the express aim of offering low-cost travel tickets combined with high levels of customer service.
After receiving a provisional green light from the European Commission on Nov. 20, the airlines - Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa - launched a German language Web site just before Christmas.
The main English language site - http://www.opodo.co.uk - opened for business today, and plans call for a French language site to open during the second quarter of this year, spokesperson Gail Gillogaley told Newsbytes.
Opodo plans on offering some of the lowest-priced air tickets on the market, but with the addition of constant telephone, e-mail and Web-based customer service from its call centers in Berlin, Germany, and Leicester, England, Gillogaley said.
Gillogaley added that the fact that the online travel agency market in Europe is already crowded with the likes of Expedia, Travelocity and several others, does not worry Opodo, as there is plenty of room for expansion.
"Industry figures show the European market is currently worth 4.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion) a year, and will be worth 40 billion euros ($36 billion) annually within five years," she said.
Opodo has contracted with both Amadeus and Galileo, two of the major global distribution services (GDS) in the travel industry, to supply it with relevant travel data.
The decision to go with two, rather than just one GDS, was taken to allow Opodo to cover as much of the European market as possible, Gillogaley said.
"We are also offering different types of services through the two portals. In Germany, customers look for service first, followed by price, whilst in England, the choices are the other way around," she said, adding that contracting with two GDS operators gives Opodo high levels of flexibility.
Opodo, the company, has been in preparation for around nine months, and says it already has 128 million euros ($115 million) in funding from its airline investors.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .
13:02 CST
(20020123/Press Contact: Gail Gillogaley, Opodo +44-20-7664-7930 /WIRES ONLINE, BUSINESS/)
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