Delta Air Lines and Amadeus have expanded their commercial relationship to enable the sale of Economy Comfort, Delta’s premium economy seats offering more leg room, through the Amadeus global distribution system.
“Delta is encouraged by the direction of the technology innovation at Amadeus, and this partnership demonstrates that Delta is listening to its valued corporate and agency partners by broadening the availability of our popular Economy Comfort seating,” said Wayne Aaron, Vice President, Marketing Programs and Distribution Strategy at Delta. “It’s part of the more than $3 billion we are investing to improve the travel experience of our customers at all points of their journey.”
As part of this new agreement, Amadeus also will work with Delta on initiatives to further personalise and enhance the customer experience as Delta continues to transform the distribution of its products and services. Amadeus will also continue to distribute Delta’s branded fares as well as its Economy Comfort premium seats.
Economy Comfort features three to four inches of additional leg room across Delta’s fleet of two-class aircraft as well as giving passengers priority boarding. On long-haul international flights, the seats also have up to 50% more recline than standard economy class seats and customers receive complimentary beer, wine and cocktails. Economy Comfort is available on all Delta mainline aircraft and more than 250 two-class regional jets.
“This new agreement is a testament to the partnership philosophy shared by both companies and an understanding of what is important to our mutual customers,” said Holger Taubmann, SVP Distribution for Amadeus worldwide. “We believe this opportunity to distribute Delta’s Economy Comfort product will allow Amadeus to further demonstrate our innovative technology that meets the complex and changing needs of the global marketplace. We are also especially pleased to reach this agreement with Delta Air Lines because of their critical importance to travellers across the globe.”
Amadeus currently has long-term content agreements in place with airlines worldwide representing over 80% of all bookings made by Amadeus travel agencies.