Monarch Airlines will withdraw from global distribution systems Amadeus and Galileo at the end of April, ending the carrier’s presence on all GDS systems. The carrier attributed the move to a “huge” fall in GDS sales.
Travel agents who currently access Monarch flights via the GDSs will have to do so through the airline’s website or flight-only operator Avro – a sister company – with flights available online and via agency-booking system Viewdata.
Monarch pulled off the Worldspan and Sabre GDSs last June and it was likely to be only a matter of time before it withdrew from the other systems – particularly as Worldspan and Galileo form part of the same GDS company, Travelport.
Liz Savage, managing director of Monarch’s scheduled division, said: “We have taken the decision to withdraw from the GDS systems as we have seen a huge decrease in direct GDS sales, largely due to agents using other methds to access our lowest fares.”
- Monarch exit is hugely significant [Travolution Blog]
- Read Travolution’s feature on the future of GDSs [December 2006]