BA hosts reservation system on Informix backbone

NEWS Speedwing - British Airway's technology division - has commissioned Informix to supply the database backbone for its airline reservation system. Speedwing hosts reservation systems for airlines across the world. The main system was developed by ReserVision Software Technologies - a subsidiary of Siemens. The upgrade will allow Speedwing to offer smaller airlines advanced hosted reservation systems normally affordable only by large companies. Mark Callen, sales manager for Informix's commercial business division, said: "Speedwing's new system lowers the entry point to smaller airlines and will give them access to data mining capabilities to boost profits." The system has the capacity to handle up to four million passengers. The next stage of the project will be to develop the datawarehousing elements, enabling Speedwing's clients to use reservation information for marketing purposes. "These datawarehouse facilities will allow airlines to build a feedback loop back to passengers which will support their marketing campaigns," said Callen. An early adopter of the service is Canadian airline, Bearskin, which carries around 250,000 passengers per year. Bearskin expects its hosted service to go live by October this year.