Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines has chosen Abacus' reservation inventory participation, becoming the ninth mainland China carrier/group to do so.

Published: 06 Jun 2005

Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines has chosen Abacus' reservation inventory participation, becoming the ninth mainland China carrier/group to do so.

Abacus stated that Sichuan Airlines' Direct Connect Availability (DCA) participation with it is airline's first with a foreign Global Distribution Service(GDS). Through the Abacus DCA service, Sichuan Airlines is given the power to exercise point-of-sale
quota allocation and control their flight inventory hence Abacus subscribers can now receive real-time flight status and seat counts directly from their own reservations system, says a release.

"Joining Abacus is the first step for Sichuan Airlines to enter the international market. It is an important area of Sichuan Airlines' strategy to expand into the
overseas market, especially Southeast Asia. Moreover, through Abacus, more agents and passengers can enjoy our services," said Shen Cheng, general manager of Information Center Sichuan Airlines.

Abacus says partnership is important as it reinforces its position in the region as the first foreign based GDS to host the largest number of mainland China-based carriers.

Other mainland China hosted carriers already
subscribing to the Abacus DCA service include Air China Group (consisting of Air China, Southwest Airline, ZheJiang Airline), China Eastern Group(consisting of China Eastern, Yunnan Airlines, Northwest Airlines), China Southern Group (consisting
of China Southern, Northern Airlines, XingJiang Airlines), as well as Shanghai Airlines (FM), Xiamen Airlines (MF), Shangdong Airlines (SC), Shenzhen Airlines (ZH), and Hainan Airlines (HU).

As part of its initiatives for other markets in Asia, Abacus recently said that Abacus-connected travel agencies in Korea will be able to issue e-tickets exclusively for South Korea-based Asiana Airlines. From July, E-tickets for Asiana flights will be available from Abacus-connected travel agencies in Australia, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.