Reservation System

Computer Science Term paper Topic: Airline Reservation System

Date of Submission: 8 November, 201 Submitted to:

Submitted by:

Acknowledgement

I, hereby express my utmost gratitude to , which allowed me a golden opportunity to explore the creative and analytical side of me through term paper. I am immensely grateful to Miss. Isha batra, for the intellectual and edifying support provided by her to prepare the same. Her wide knowledge and logical way of thinking has been of great value for me. Moreover, I owe a lot

thanks to the college library for providing me with the required books which helped me a lot to search for the material which I could not find from any other source. And, finally I extend my heartiest thanks to my friends for supporting me in each possible manner.

Daman ghai B Tech MBA CSE (I)

Airline Tickets Reservations System An Airline Reservation System is part of the so-called Passenger Service Systems (PSS), which are applications supporting the direct contact with the passenger. The Airline Reservations System (ARS) was one of the earliest changes to improve efficiency. ARS eventually evolved into the Computer Reservations System (CRS). A Computer Reservation System is used for the reservations of a particular airline and interfaces with a Global Distribution System (GDS) which supports travel agencies and other distribution channels in making reservations for most major airlines in a single system. Contents

• • • •

1 Overview 2 Availability Display and Reservation (PNR) 3 Inventory Management 4 Fare Quote and Ticketing o 4.1 Minimum stay

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5 Cancelling

Overview Airline Reservations Systems contain airline schedules, fare tariffs, passenger reservations and ticket records. An airline's direct distribution works within their own reservation system, as well as pushing out information to the GDS. A second type of direct distribution channel is consumers who use the internet or mobile applications to make their own reservations. Travel agencies and other indirect distribution channels access the same GDS as those accessed by the airlines' reservation systems, and all messaging is transmitted by a standardized messaging system that functions primarily on TTY messaging called SITA. Since airline reservation systems are business critical applications, and their functionally quite complex, the operation of an in-house airline reservation system is relatively expensive.

Prior to deregulation, airlines owned their own reservation systems with travel agents subscribing to them. Today, the GDS are run by independent companies with airlines and travel agencies as major subscribers. As of February 2009, there are only three major GDS providers in the market space: Amadeus, Travel port (the merged World span and Galileo systems), Sabre and Shares. There is one major Regional GDS, Abacus, serving the Asian marketplace and a number of regional players serving single countries, including Travel sky (China), Infini and Axxess (both Japan) and Topas (South Korea). There is a secondary GDS called Navitaire that hosts "ticket less" airlines such as AirTran, and previously JetBlue. Virgin America is hosted by iflyRes (aiRes), which is a new generation reservation system developed and operated by IBS Software Service Pvt. Ltd. In additional to these "standardized" GDS, some airlines have proprietary versions which they use to run their flight operations. A few examples of this kind of system are Deltamatic (built off the World span platform) and EDS SHARES. SITA Reservations remains the largest neutral multi-host airline reservations system, with over 100 airlines currently managing inventory. Availability Display and Reservation (PNR) Users access an airline’s inventory through an availability display. It contains all offered flights for a particular city-pair with their available seats in the different booking classes. This display contains flights, which are operated by the airline itself as well as code share flights which are operated in co-operation with another airline. If the city pair is not one on which the airline offers service it may display a connection using its' own flights or display the flights of other airlines. The availability of seats of other airlines is updated through standard industry interfaces. Depending on the type of co-operation it supports access to the last seat (Last Seat Availability) in real-time. Reservations for individual passengers or groups are stored in a so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR). Among other data, the PNR contains personal information such as name, contact information or special services requests (SSRs) e.g. for a vegetarian meal, as well as the flights (segments) and issued tickets. Some reservation systems also allow storing customer data in profiles to avoid data re-entry each time a new reservation is made for a known passenger. In addition most systems have interfaces to CRM systems or customer loyalty applications (aka Frequent Traveler Systems). Before a flight departs the so-called Passenger Name List (PNL) is handed over to the Departure Control System that is used to check-in passengers and baggage. Reservation data such as the number of booked passengers and special service requests is also transferred to Flight Operations Systems, Crew Management and Catering Systems. Once a flight has departed the reservation system is updated with a list of the checked-in passengers (e.g. passengers who had a reservation but did not check in (No Shows) and passengers who checked in, but didn’t have a reservation (Go Shows)). Finally data needed for revenue accounting and reporting is handed over to the administrative systems. Inventory Management An airline’s inventory contains all flights with their available seats. The inventory of an airline is generally divided into service classes (e.g. First, Business or Economy class) and up to 26 booking classes, for which different prices and booking conditions apply. Inventory data is

imported and maintained through a Schedule Distribution System over standardized interfaces. One of the core functions of the inventory management is the inventory control. Inventory control steers how many seats are available in the different booking classes, by opening and closing individual booking classes for sale. In combination with the fares and booking conditions stored in the Fare Quote System the price for each sold seat is determined. In most cases inventory control has a real time interface to an airline’s Yield management system to support a permanent optimization of the offered booking classes in response to changes in demand or pricing strategies of a competitor.

Fare Quote and Ticketing The Fares data store contains fare tariffs, rule sets, routing maps, class of service tables, and some tax information that construct the price - "the fare". Rules like booking conditions (e.g. minimum stay, advance purchase, etc.) are tailored differently between different city pairs or zones, and assigned a class of service corresponding to its appropriate inventory bucket. Inventory control can also be manipulated manually through the availability feeds, dynamically controlling how many seats are offered for a particular price by opening and closing particular classes. The compiled set of fare conditions is called a fare basis code. There are two systems set up for the interchange of fares data - ATPCO and SITA plus there are some system to system direct connects. This system distributes the fare tariffs and rule sets to all GDSs and other subscribers. Every airline employs staff who code air fare rules in accordance with yield management intent. There are also revenue managers who watch fares as they are filed into the public tariffs and make competitive recommendations. Inventory control is typically manipulated from here, using availability feeds to open and close classes of service. The role of the Ticketing complex is to issue and store electronic ticket records and the very small number of paper tickets that are still issued. Miscellaneous Charges Order (MCO) is still a paper document; IATA has working groups defining the replacement document the Electronic Multipurpose Document (EMD) as at 2010. The electronic ticket information is stored in a database containing the data that historically was printed on a paper ticket including items such as the ticket number, the fare and tax components of the ticket price or exchange rate information. In the past airlines issued paper tickets; since 2008 IATA has been supporting a resolution to move to 100% electronic ticketing. So far, the industry has not been able to comply due to various technological and international limitations. The industry is at 98% electronic ticket issuance today although electronic processing for MCOs was not available in time for the IATA mandate. Cancellation In this system consideration is done on cancellation procedure. The money is refunded back depending upon airlines and time at which the ticket is being cancelled. After cancellation the seats left are given to passengers those who have applied for emergency tickets.

This is the list of entities to be included in code.

FILE NAME

VARIABLE NAME

Airline Reservation

DESCRIPTION For

System(ARS) Res

Reservation

Des

Destination city

Ori

Origin city

date

For Date And return date

Ava

Flight available

p-inf

Passenger information

name

Name of passenger

Sex

Sex of passenger

d.o.b

Date of birth

Adult

For adults

Child

For children up to 12 years

Class

Class of travel

Cl

Club class

Eco

Economy class

Fir

First class

Tra

Travel class

Seat

Seat available

seat-n

Seat no.

Dep

For departure time

Arr

For arrival time

tic-n

Ticket no.

cancel

For cancelling reservation

Reservation System Most of the airliners and travel agents make seat reservation for their clients through a Global Distribution System (GDS) or Computerized Reservation System (CRS). The main GDS or CRS in the market are Abacus, Amadeus, Galileo and Saber. The most basic elements that is used to identify the price of fare to be used are; Airline Code All airlines are coded in a unique 2 alphanumeric combination. This code always appears in the flight number (4 digit combination e.g. SQ0123).

Paired City Code All cities and airports are coded in a 3 alphabetic combination. A city code is the super-ordinate of an airport code and all airport codes are unique. All flights will begin from one airport to another airport. In an itinerary, flights are separated by sectors. If you are purchasing a return trip ticket from Singapore to Bangkok, this ticket will consist of 2 sectors shown as 'SIN BKK' and 'BKK SIN'. Similarly, the routing consist of 1 transit in each direction, you ticket will have 4 sectors in total.

The screen above illustrates how codes will be presented on an Amadeus Selling Platform (GDS) Travel

Dates

the traveling date is the plan day that you depart for another destination. For air-ticket system, it works on a 365 days basis therefore no year is indicated. For example, if today is 25 September 2008, you may only book for a flight that is planned to depart up till 24 September 2009 technically. However, in most cases, you may only book up to 10 months in advance depending on the schedule update by the airlines to the GDS. Prices may vary according to the dates that you plan to travel. The dates that you will be traveling on may be a low season or high season or a black out period. The seasonality is commonly denoted as the date of travel departing Singapore. Occasionally, there might be restrictions to the returning date as well. The peak period price difference is usually referred to as the 'Peak Period Surcharge'. In the case of a black out period, it means that a fare is not valid for travel during this period either on the departure or the return flight.

Common reason for peak season or black out are 'Weekends', 'Public Holidays', 'Major Events' etc. Booking Class Seats in the aircraft are generally categorized into First (F), Business (C) and Economy (Y) Class. There are some airlines that offer an additional class between Business and Economy. Booking Class Code The seats in each class cabin are further segmented denoted by alphabets on the ticket. The booking class code is not a reference of where you are supposed to seat in a cabin but rather the flexibility and privilege that you enjoy on each class code. Discounts are offered throughout all 3 class categories. In most discounted ticket, you seldom find the code to be 'Y' for economy class. Rather, you will probably be seeing 'B, E, G, H, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X' (some airlines may use different alphabets). So if you happen to hold a 'Y' class code ticket, the person seating beside you may be paying half the price that you have paid for the ticket. There are many other conditions that are attached to a particular class code (not restricted to the list below); Ticket Validity: Minimum and Maximum stay in the destination. - Minimum Travelers: Minimum number of travelers to travel together on all sectors or on the outbound sector. - Mileage Eligibility: Can the miles of this flight be accumulated under the frequent flyer member program. - Ticket Cancellation: The possibility to refund for an unused ticket or one way used ticket. - Date or Flight Changes: The possibility of changes to the travel dates or flight timings. A penalty charge may apply for low tier ticket. Passenger Category There are 3 categories for passengers. Age under 2 years is considered as an infant. Age above 2 and under 12 years is considered as child. Age above 12 years is considered as an adult. * Note: Names of all travelers must be provided to complete an air-ticket reservation. In order to prevent the resale of air-tickets in black markets, changing of names in any way is strictly prohibited. Minor typo error in names requires proof of identification and will be assessed in a case by case basis. The passenger is liable for a penalty fee in a case of name amendment approval. Full Published Fares

International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the representative of most major airliners in the world. There is a wide range of tickets that can be purchased for different purpose. The most flexible but expensive fares are known as IATA Full Publish System Fares. In the GDS or CRS, 3 main class categories of fares exist in the system. Economy Class coded 'Y' Business Class coded 'C' First Class coded 'F' Full Published Fare is probably the most expensive fare that you can pay for in each of the class it represents and for 1 destination. It is generally usable on all airlines that operates between the starting point and final destination provided that the ticket is fully endorsable. Who will purchase such tickets? Top executives of major companies who need to travel around frequently and traveling dates and time or even carriers may be changed spontaneously. Since you can change your ticket to any airlines and any time within a year from issuance, you are sure that if there is a flight and it’s not full, you will be certain to get onto that flight. They may need to make such changes to align with their busy schedules or even meet clients while on the flight.

Travelers who need to travel from a foreign country without purchasing the ticket from the airline or agent of the origins may approach their local agents to issue the tickets under the Full Published Fares. It is possible provided that the agent holds the airline plate and ticket stock for an airline that is operating on the route. * All Full Published Fare tickets are valid for travel up to 1 year from the designated date of travel commencement or last date of travel commencement. Else the ticket will expire and deem void without refund value in most cases. E-Ticket vs. Paper Ticket

Electronic Ticket (ET) has almost completely taken over the use of Paper Ticket (PT) in 2007. Electronic ticket is also known as paperless travel as travelers no longer require to hold a physical copy of the ticket while checking-in for their flight. In fact, all you need is your passport or travel documents to check-in for a flight. E-ticketing is a cost-efficient system and reduces the need for paper for ticket issuance. All you need to ensure is that the name on your passport matches the name imprinted on the E-Ticket or the records in the airliner's system. Below is an example of an E-Ticket. It is very similar to a flight itinerary.

Paper Ticket (PT) is a coupon pass ticket that is required during check-in in exchange for passengers boarding pass. The biggest problem of paper ticket is that the passenger has to hold the physical copy of the coupon and passengers will have to make a police report if any of the coupons are missing. Like currency, a ticket coupon relies

on unique anti-theft of counterfeiting features to prevent misuse or fraud. With such authentication technology inbuilt on a ticket, the cost of producing it is high.

In the present market, you may still be able to request for paper ticket for leaving your return date opened (Open Dated) or for destinations that does not support ticketless travel (rare). For the issuance of paper ticket, it is almost impossible to collect it upon issuance if through a travel agency. Issuance of paper ticket will have to be referred to the airliner office and a surcharge is applicable for paper ticket issuance. Airline Relocator - A unique reference for the airliner's use to retrieve traveler's reservation. Code-Shared Flight - An agreement between two airliners to transport the other airliner's passengers on their flight or could be used for domestic flights coding. Code Share Flight Explained. Dapo - A term used to request for the seat controller of an airliner to arrange for a seat for a passenger currently on waiting list. Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) - A loyalty program offer by airliners for mileage accrual by their members. Full Refund - Request to refund the value of a fully unutilized ticket. GV - Group tickets. The number that appears after GV refers to the minimum passengers required for the sale of this airfare. Inbound - The journey returning from the intended destination to the origin. Passenger Name Record (PNR) - A GDS or CRS unique booking reference to be quoted to a agency travel consultant to retrieve your reservation. A maximum of 9 names (excluding infant not occupying a seat) can be entered into 1 PNR. No Show - Failure to board the plane and contact the airliner to cancel the seat resulting in seat wastage. Open Date - To leave the return sector empty. The traveler must bring the ticket to the airliner's office to indicate on the return sector. This option is only available to paper tickets only. Open Jaw - An option to fly into one airport and returns from another. Outbound - The journey departing from the origin to the intended destination Partial Refund - Request for a refund on a ticket that only the outbound sector has been utilized.

Refueling / Pickup point - A stop in between the origin and the final destination that is meant to conduct a refueling process or pick up more passengers or both.

REFERENCES: http://www.wikipedia.com/ http://www.knowyourticket.co.cc/reservation.html http://www.answers.com http://www.howstuffworks.com