Amadeus technology flies high for UNICEF

“This has the potential to be the biggest global CSR programme ever,” Tomás Lopez Fernebrand, senior vp, general counsel & corporate secretary, Amadeus told Ethical Performance on the launch of a new partnership that will enable travel providers and sellers to raise funds for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. The Spanish travel technology group has developed a donation engine that will give consumers the opportunity to make a micro donation when paying for travel online. 

 

During the first stage of the programme, which has been in development for just over a year, selected travel providers and sellers, such as airline websites and online travel agents, will integrate a ‘check box’ on their online booking pages. If a traveller chooses to make a donation, they will receive an email.

 

For participating travel brands, the product will exist as a neutral standalone system, cross-channel merchant engine. This consists of a donation interface to collect donation data that is linked to an Amadeus payment gateway. The donation payment is processed as a separate transaction from the travel purchase, simplifying things for the partner and for UNICEF.

 

Iberia, Finnair and Quantas are three top airlines which are currently looking to work with the system. 

 

“The engine will be ready in the summer and then followed by an implementation programme. We are hoping it will be operational by Q4,” said Fernebrand. He highlighted the potential scope of the initiative: “When you consider that there are 110 airlines, and we manage 50m bookings every year, if you aim for just 5/10 per cent in the first year, that’s 2.5m transactions… It could soon add up.”

 

Fernebrand believes firmly that technology can be used as a positive force for societal change. Amadeus is very active in CSR itself with 140 ongoing projects. Its three main areas are local community, skills transfer and applying technology for good.