OAG® AND 15BELOW UNITE TO IMPROVE PASSENGER COMMUNICATIONS OAG has joined forces with 15below, an aviation software applications specialist, to address EU regulatory requirements, and to offer PASNGR™ a ground breaking passenger communications system. PASNGR is a unified communication platform that interfaces to reservations systems and other data stores to allow airlines and travel agents to communicate practically any information to their customers on a worldwide basis. Already live in a number of airlines, this system dramatically improves customer service levels, provides a significant cost saving opportunity. It also addresses European Regulatory requirements to provide and prove clear communications to customers when service disruption occurs. Current customers include Ryanair, Monarch, Virgin Express, Air Asia, TUI, MyTravel, First Choice and JetStar amongst others. The net result of this system is greatly improved customer service, smoother airline operations and aggressive cost savings, which amount to millions of dollars each year. With soaring fuel prices, intense competition and the need to address new regulation OAG and 15Below's combined offering is an extremely timely solution for the world's airlines. John Clynes, Technical Director 15below said today "15below is enormously excited with the prospect of teaming up with OAG. In an increasingly competitive aviation environment, PASNGR is unique in offering very substantial cost savings to an airline whilst immensely improving the service it provides to its customers. Joining forces with OAG's established worldwide strength and reputation provides an enhanced platform to deliver PASNGR at an accelerated rate to airlines across the world" Duncan Alexander, Managing Director Business Development, OAG continues; "This is one of the best customer facing applications that I have ever seen within the Airline Industry. OAG is delighted to have teamed up with 15below to bring the substantial benefits of PASNGR to the travel community. The synergy between our two organisations is self evident when you combine OAG's specialisation in processing and distributing schedules changes to operational systems, including our flight status notification service, and 15below's ability to communicate these changes to airlines' and travel agents' customers" For further Information please contact: For additional information please contact Duncan Alexander, Managing Director Business Development, OAG, on +44 (0) 1582.695.476 or e-mail dataservices@oag.com or Margareta Stanley or Amy Green at DBA on +44 (0) 207.930.8033 or e-mail info@nchl.demon.co.uk or dba@nchl.demon.co.uk or John Clynes, Technical Director, 15Below on +44 1273 222 827 or e-mail john.clynes@15below.com Notes to Editors: About new European Union Airline Passenger Legislation: Regulation 261/2004 - Strengthening Passenger Rights within the EU. Recent EU legislation requires airlines to appropriately notify customers of cancelled and flight time changes, with significant penalties on airlines that fail to do so. In the case of time changes of more than 2 hours, customers that have not been notified at least 2 weeks in advance are entitled to cancel or change their booking. The airline must also provide meals, refreshments and accommodation should they fail to do this. Penalties for cancellations are even more severe. An airline is liable to pay compensation between €250 and €600 per passenger - unless the passenger is notified of a cancellation at least two weeks in advance. PASNGR comprehensively addresses these obligations - and more. About PASNGR™ From a single terminal an airline or a travel agent can communication key events such as schedule changes, service cancellation and major delays due to industrial action to all impacted customers. This revolutionary communications platform can also be used to distribute gift vouchers, marketing material and online surveys. The system offers multi-media means of communication in multi-languages: e-mail, SMS, voice mail, FAX and printed letters. For mandatory disruption notifications, such as schedule changes and cancellations, PASNGR provides simple ways for customers to respond. These customer responses, whether online, by email, SMS or voice are all captured and integrated back into the airline's reservations system. PASNGR's inherent intelligence also ensures successful delivery - if one communication channel fails, PASNGR will persist with other channels until delivery succeeds. Combined with OAG's SMS flight status alert system for 'on the day' delays to flight services OAG and 15below can offer a full customer service disruption management package for airlines and travel agents. About OAG: OAG is a global content management company specialising in travel and transport. OAG's expertise is in managing large amounts of data and building applications and products to get that information into the hands of people who need it. OAG holds a breadth of travel related content. It is best known for its airline schedules database, which holds flight details for 1,000 airlines and more than 3,500 airports. It also aggregates and distributes a wide range of other travel related information such as flight status data, cargo and freight schedules and aviation market intelligence data. OAG provides a broad range of travel and transportation related products for business and consumer customers, available in virtually any way the customer wants it: Via the Internet, on mobile devices, via digital data transfer and print. OAG is a private company with over 400 staff in Europe, The Middle East, The Americas and Asia. To view OAG services visit www.oag.com, www.oagdata.com and www.oagcargo.com About 15below: 15below is a UK based software development company specialising in the aviation industry. Formed in 2000, 15below believes in innovation through observation. Through close contact with its customers 15below have been able to deliver solutions that are proven to significantly reduce operational overheads whilst genuinely improving customer service. 15below has customers in 5 continents.15below's philosophy is that of true partnership with its customers, working openly together towards shared goals. This approach has established 15below's reputation as a professional, innovative, approachable company that routinely exceeds expectations. The aviation industry is in a phase of rapid change, bringing with it many challenges. The ability to re-evaluate and re-engineer existing processes is vital to future success. 15below's suite of products and consulting services assist airlines in meeting these challenges with confidence. For more information, visit www.15below.com
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