Aspiro signs agreement with Smart for the launch of a new mobile flight information travel service
Aspiro signs agreement with Smart for the launch of a new mobile flight information travel service Aspiro, a supplier of mobile Internet services, and Smart, northern Europe's leading enterprise in electronic distribution of travel information, booking and ticketing, have signed a far-reaching agreement regarding a new innovative mobile flight information travel service. Based on information from Amadeus - the travel industry's largest global distribution system - the new mobile service will allow mobile phone users to access information about worldwide flight times and destinations as well as seat vacancies and price details. The agreement covers three phases, the first of which - worldwide flight times and destinations, seat vacancies and price details - will be available to mobile operators and portals from August 1, which makes Aspiro among the first companies in the world to offer this type of service. The second phase of the collaboration involves vastly extending the flight travel service to include information about 55,000 hotels around the world; all major car rental companies; and an automatic delay notification function that will send passengers who have purchased plane tickets a message informing them that their flight is delayed. In the third and final phase, Aspiro and Smart will introduce a special booking function that will allow users to book flights, hotels and hire cars directly from a mobile device anywhere in the world. "Travel is all about mobility. So its makes perfect sense to give people the possibility of being able to arrange all their travel requirements while on the go. Thanks to this new agreement Smart will now gain access to Aspiro´s extensive contact network of mobile operators and portals and be in a position to make this happen," says Gunnar Widén, Manager Wireless Travel Management at Smart. For more information, please contact: Magnus Liljegren, Aspiro Content Aggregation, tel: +46 (0)709 918077 Gunnar Widén, Manager WTM, SMART AB, tel: + (0)8 458 0607 About Aspiro Aspiro provides mobile applications and services promoting Life in Motion using cutting-edge knowledge and technologies. Aspiro offers operators, content providers and mobile organizations a wide range of solutions, from pre-packaged portal services to industry-specific solutions. Founded in 1998, Aspiro is today an international player in the global mobile Internet market. The Scandinavia-based company has over 170 employees and offices in Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and USA. Aspiro's business concept, organization and operations are based on many years of experience gained in the mobile telecommunications and IT industries. For further information about Aspiro, please visit www.aspiro.com. About SMART SMART is northern Europe's leading enterprise in electronic distribution of travel information, booking and ticketing. Via SMART´s network, travel service producers reach out to 1.750 travel agencies and 12.000 computerized workstations. In turn, the travel agencies gain access to sophisticated booking systems for flights, rail journeys, hotels, car hire, ferry journeys, tourist services, charters, etc. At the same time, SMART provides travel retailers with technical facilities for business development, sales, administration and communications. Via the Internet and new PC technology, SMART can offer service producers and travel agencies a range of new distribution channels. Today, SMART holds a very advanced position in electronic travel retailing to new customer segments. Working with partners SMART can, for example, deliver purchasing management and travel administration services to end-users. Amadeus is SMART's major provider and partner. The company operates a Computerized Reservation System (CRS), a worldwide system serving the travel industry. For further information about Smart, please visit www.smart.se. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/06/30/20000630BIT01040/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/06/30/20000630BIT01040/bit0002.pdf