Driving virtualization

Book Flights Using the iPad

A World First — Malaysia Airlines and SITA have launched a kiosk to sell airline tickets using the Apple iPad in Kuala Lumpur.

Says Malaysia Airlines managing director Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin, “There is a huge interest in the iPad MHkiosks ... it will mean better queue management at our ticket offices during peak hours when customers can be re-directed to ‘stand-alone’ iPad MHkiosks.”

Jim Peters, the SITA chief technology officer that heads the SITA Lab facility which worked with Malaysia Airlines on development, says SITA regards the innovation as a significant breakthrough for the airline industry which is seeking to provide the online public with additional sales channels and attractive functionality.

The annual 2010 Airline IT Trends Survey, conducted by SITA and Airline Business Magazine, seemed to confirm Peters’ remarks. Survey results, published during the Air Transport IT Summit event, indicate that airlines are prioritizing the implementation of new functionality on their websites with online shopping tools; change, cancel, and rebook fuctionality; and frequent flyer redemption functionality.

In addition, of the 129 airlines (81 percent full-service; 14 percent low-cost; 5 percent charter carriers) who responded to the survey, 56 percent expect an increase in IT investment during the next year. According to SITA, the survey confirms a strong ambition among airlines to implement virtualization technologies, with the initial priority on IT infrastructure — 40 percent of respondents have already created a virtual environment, and that is expected to rise to 85 percent by 2013. Software and desktop virtualization are the next steps in the transition.