Etihad says 'big switch' complete

Etihad Airways' "big switch" to its new sales and service system was completed with "minimal" disruption, the company said yesterday.

The switchover operation involved the training of more than 6,700 Etihad and third-party staff who implemented, tested and configured the new software.

They then worked on transferring all existing 530,000 bookings into the new system.

"To have achieved a cutover of this magnitude with such minimal disruption to our operations and customers is testament to the excellent teamwork between Etihad Airways and Sabre Airline Solutions," said James Hogan, the president and chief executive.

During the switch, the system was down for about 36 hours from 11pm on Friday. During that time passengers could not buy tickets or check in online.

The switch was made on airport systems in Abu Dhabi and 23 other cities.

Implementation in the remaining destinations will continue until the end of next month.

The US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn), 10-year deal with Sabre aims to increase revenues, improve efficiency and personalise travel for customers.

lgutcher@thenational.ae