Travelport expands in Hungary

Travelport GDS has bought the Galileo distribution business in Hungary from the national airline Malév.

The company which owns  two of the world's major GDSs, Galileo and Worldspan, has also signed a new content deal with the carrier.
The two moves make Travelport the major GDS supplier in the Hungarian travel market.
Karoly Foner, who headed Galileo for Malév, will now lead the Travelport operation from Budapest.
Under the "long term", full content deal, Galileo and Worldspan agents in the country will have access to all of the airline's published fares and inventory including web fares.
Niklas Andréen, Travelport GDS's managing director for Eastern Europe, said: "This acquisition is further evidence of our commitment to the Hungarian travel trade and very much confirms our position as the number one provider of GDS services in this market.
"We are now better placed than ever to support the evolving needs of our customers in this market." 

Passenger growth at new low – IATAThe International Air Transport Association: IATA represents and serves the airline industry, with a membership made up of around 230 airlines. The association seeks to raise awareness of how aviation benefits the economy, fight for airline's interests and ensure industry regulations are sensible. IATA helps its members directly by offering advice on reducing costs while improving efficiency and on improving safety standards. It also provides professional support in the form of publications, training and consulting.

The growth in passenger demand in June fell to 3.8%, the lowest since 2003, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
The Association said that during the month, load factors also fell by 1.2% to 77.6% compared to the same period in 2007.
In Europe passenger demand growth dropped to 2.1% compared with a 4.1% fall in May.
Airlines in North America, the Middle East and Asia all saw a drop in growth.
Only Latin American carriers reported an increase in demand of 12.5%.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and ceo, said: "Although the passenger demand grew by 3.8%, this is the slowest growth that we have seen since the industry was hit by the SARS crisis in 2003.
"With consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse."