China Southern Airlines – taking the next steps in our digital JoDigital is the way forward

I have worked with China Southern Airlines since 1993, spending 17 years in the IT department and have been involved in the e-commerce development of our airline. In 2014, we set up a dedicated e-commerce division for China Southern Airlines, recognising that staying ahead in information technology – particularly the digital world – would be critical to our future success.

Our e-commerce journey with Amadeus began 9 years ago.

Early adopters of Amadeus e-Retail
As the Chinese government began to embrace the internet, China Southern Airlines became the first airline in China to develop a website and e-ticketing system, positioning itself as market leader in e-commerce. Amadeus played an important role in this development strategy.

In 2007, we partnered with Amadeus to implement our international website. Since then we moved from an off-the-shelf solution to a fully customizable version thanks to Amadeus Digital Design Services. In the first 12 months after the launch of our DDS website, we witnessed a PNR (passenger name records) increase of 94% in volume, which gave our online, international business an important boost.

We have also worked with Amadeus to ensure that China Southern Airlines complies with the US DOT mandate on WCAG compliance, and responsive design cut over to production in June this year. This mandate ensures that disabled passengers can access and purchase tickets directly from airline websites, which we hope will help us better service the needs of this customer segment.

Where do we go from here?
Amadeus has significant experience and expertise in developing solutions and applications for international airlines. This was an important consideration in selecting Amadeus to help us develop China Southern Airlines’ e-commerce presence outside of China. We are particularly interested in strengthening our cooperation in the areas of ancillary services, payment options and travel intelligence.

At China Southern, we still have a way to go to become a market leading airline website and we count on the support and commitment from our Amadeus account team all along the way. We now look forward to a bright future as we focus on increasing online revenue through our international website and establishing China Southern Airlines as an important digital player in Asia.