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Airline Passenger Revenue Accounting

NIIT Technologies White Paper

CONTENTS
Introduction

Airline Operations

Revenue Accounting Function

Selecting the Right Revenue Accounting System

Conclusion

TRANSPORTATION
TRAVEL
CARGO

PACKAGING

TOURTRANSPORTATION
TRAVEL
GUIDE
TRANSPORTATIONTRAVEL

CARGO
CARGO
LOGISTICS
TRAVEL

JOURNEY
GUIDE
TRANSPORTATION CARGO
JOURNEY

CARGO

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LOGISTICS

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Introduction

that accumulates on their desks. This has been possible due to

Airline business, which was a monopolistic and profitable

business till mid 90s, is now one of the most complicated,
competitive and vulnerable businesses in the world. Rising fuel
prices, major government pressures on tougher security
measures and a tough global economy have cut profits and

the advancement in the Revenue Accounting and related

systems; where departments of an airline are benefitted with the
information available on a real-time basis. Today, Revenue
Accounting systems have become so dynamic that they not
only provide relevant information on a real-time basis but also
provide minute details required to check the performance of a

airlines are working hard to operate within parameters of costs

single route, on a single day. This information facilitates the

and budgets. Adding to the pain, low cost airlines have entered

decision

the fray with variable and flexible operating models. Legacy

Reservation Booking Designators (RBD), Schedule, Type of

airlines will have to engage in innovative efficiency measures to

Aircrafts used on a particular route etc. as compared to how it

stay in the air and in the black. To survive and to attain long term

was handled in the past.

profitability all carriers will have to restructure and refocus. One

key tool for this radical overhaul is to outsource most of their
noncore processes. This will result in major cost cutting and allow

makers

to

make

adjustments

in

their

Fares,

In a nut-shell, there was no dearth of information for an airline.

However the tools that are available today are far too advanced to
facilitate timely availability of actionable intelligence.

them to leverage their scale and systems.

This paper lists the revenue accounting providers, the features of

Revenue Accounting Function

the solution they provide and ways of selecting the right revenue

The Revenue Accounting function has changed manifolds as

accounting system.

compared to what it was decades ago. With a lot of initiatives from

IATA and group airlines, the focus has been to make the overall
process electronic. While projects like eTicketing, Simplified

Airline Operations

Interline Settlement (SIS) etc. has changed the job of a Revenue

With changes in the overall airline industry, almost all functions in

an airline have revamped lately. Some of the areas which were
treated as back-office tasks have gained huge importance in the
day-to-day working of an airline. Revenue Accounting is one such
function that has gained tremendous importance in the way
Commercial/Sales department of an airline takes decisions. The
decisions of the airlines are fuelled primarily by the latest

Accountant

from

real

accounting

to

monitoring

the

activities/behavior of the system in use, the demand of the

fast-evolving global travel market has made the business of airline
revenue accounting even more complex. There is tremendous
pressure to record, monitor, analyze and collect all types of
revenues as soon as possible. Thus, it becomes imperative for

enhancements that have taken place in this area of business. The

airlines to streamline revenue accounting functions and develop a

Revenue Accounting systems today have become highly robust by

highly effective solution.

accounting the worldwide sales of an airline and by delivering

data-analytics

with

the

help

of

new

Analytical

tools,

developed/adopted by the system providers.

As a reaction to these new initiatives and in order to keep pace

with the changes in the industry, Revenue Accounting system
providers have come far compared to the vision they were initially

There was a time when this information was not readily available

built on. However the thought process of adopting these changes

to the decision makers, but now they risk being flooded with data

has been different for different providers. While some of them

continue to modify their existing codes, others have taken a stand

of succeeding in the market for such vendors is much higher as

to build next-gen Revenue Accounting systems that not only

compared to the new entrants, since Revenue Accounting is a

performs accounting but also provides in-built analytical tools

heavily domain led function of an airline.

along with several other value-adds. Some of the vendors have

already started understanding the value of an integrated solution

Revenue Accounting System Providers

and have embarked on projects that leverage new technologies to

Below is a snapshot of all the major Revenue Accounting system

shift their old platforms and make them more robust. Possibilities

providers along with their market share and synopsis:

Vendor

Product

Country/Backing

Airlines
served

% Market

In House IT Department

NA

NA

42

21.21%

Mercator

RAPID/RADAR

Dubai/Emirates

35

17.68%

NIIT

MonaLisa

Germany/Independent

26

13.13%

SITA

SITA PRA

Global/Airlines owned organization

23

11.62%

Ceicom

Aracs Fx

Spain/Independent

19

9.60%

Lufthansa Systems

SIRAX

Germany/Lufthansa

13

6.57%

Accelya Kale

REVERA

India/Spain/IATA

13

6.57%

Sabre

SabreAirVision PRA

Global/Independent

12

6.06%

Navitaire

SkyLedger

Global/Independent

2.53%

Rene Perez Associates

eRev

US/Independent

2.02%

Unknown

NA

NA

2.02%

In House Mainframe

NA

NA

0.51%

Maureva

EDGAR

Mauritius

0.51%

198

Traditionally, the market for Revenue Accounting system providers

The latest addition of Integrated Reporting and Data Analytics

has been segregated based on their geographical locations. While

within the Revenue Accounting system has gained lot of

some airlines in Asia Pacific, stick to their in-house solutions,

importance. A lot of emphasis has also been given on making the

others have migrated to Revera by Kale Consultants. Most of the

Revenue Accounting systems real-time and reducing the time gap

airlines in Middle East use RAPID from Mercator and MonaLisa

between sales and recording of any transaction that helps airlines

from NIIT Technologies in Europe, while Sabre/SITA enjoys a bigger

in making real-time, informed decisions. Revenue Accounting data

customer base in the North and South American market. However

are keys for making decisions but normally transmitted in a raw

this trend has started changing lately, primarily after the 100%

format to some other systems. However, with the evolution of

e-Ticketing initiative launched by IATA, which has changed the

next-gen Revenue Accounting systems, this data can now be

overall picture of how Revenue Accounting processes are

easily presented, transmitted and reproduced at any stage with

managed in an airline.

very less effort. The new Business Intelligence tools helps airlines in
creating their own reports without any help/assistance, helps users

Post e-Ticketing, IATA has launched several new initiatives that

have given these providers possibilities to prove their strengths. In

to dig deep into data without getting lost, measure the necessary
KPIs for decision making and helps in forecasting.

the bargain some of the niche providers like Kale, Mercator has
tremendously gained the market share whereas big Airline system
players like SITA and Sabre has not been very aggressive in this
area of business.

Amadeus Passenger Revenue Accounting

System

Data Reporting and Analytics

The latest addition to the list of vendors for Revenue Accounting

Reporting facilities, first-class Drill-Down, Slice-and-Dice and

Revenue Accounting incorporates unrivalled, advanced Online

systems is Amadeus, leader in the Airline Systems market with

comparative Capabilities with the objective of maximizing revenue.

more than 200 airlines using Altea Reservation system. Amadeus

Airlines typically manage data reporting and analytics with revenue

has signed two of the biggest airlines - British Airways and Saudi

management solutions. Many of these solutions integrate with the

Arabian Airlines as their launch customers.

core Revenue Accounting systems while some, mostly the newer

ones, are in-built solutions easier to use as well as maintain.

Amadeus Passenger Revenue Accounting is a robust, new

generation passenger revenue accounting system based on

Some of the key features offered by these solutions are:

advanced and intuitive technology. It is specifically designed to

Automated the procedure of extracting data from revenue

meet the needs of an airline for a high-productivity, real-time

application that also provides full integration with respective
passenger service system.

accounting systems and other sources

Fully supported decision-making by commercial, marketing and
finance departments within airlines through powerful and
accurate data analysis

It enables an airline to stay in control of the automatic recording,

Expanded system's analysis scope, and ensured loading of

management and reporting of real-time information related to all

non-revenue accounting data such as budgetary figures and

planned, unearned and earned revenues. It allows efficient

commercial targets

handling of any accountable document received through any

distribution channel. Amadeus Passenger Revenue Accounting
represents an innovative progression in the business activity that
transforms the airline accounting task into a strategic function.
Other than the standard industry modules such as Sales
registration, Usage registration, Interline billing, Proration,
Financial Accounting and Sales/Revenue Reporting, it also offers
modules like Card capture and settlement, Sales auditing and
Agency incentive manager. For Airlines having full Alta suite
Amadeus Passenger Revenue Accounting System is fully
integrated with other leading Amadeus solutions such as

Key statistics are automatically generated. Examples include:

- Flown revenue
- Sales
Key performance indicators such as load factor, RTK and RPK
- By period e.g. day/month/quarter/YTD/user-defined period
- By flight number
- By sector, route, origin and destination
- By market
- By point of sale/agent wise
- By product
Made it extremely easy for business users to perform the

Electronic Ticketing Server, Electronic Miscellaneous Document

analysis needed to help them in their jobs, with the system using

Server, Alta Inventory, and Alta Departure Control. All sales are

software features

recorded, reported and analyzed automatically, in real time.

Online canned reports

Airlines also benefit from instant identification of earned revenue

Provided the ability to create user-specific flexible/graphical reports

through the online capture of flown information.

Provided dashboard facility for a quick and easy to use

summary view

 Extensive drill down/drill up query facilities

Comprehensive security features control the dissemination of
information on a need-to-know basis
Audit features track information usage
The system helps in proactively monitoring performance against
targets

While making a choice out of so many options available in the

market, an airline must focus on the following items:
Vendor background/experience
Reference customers
Product features
Integration with other third party systems
Adaptation of the latest industry enhancements

Knowledge can be shared through single data delivery facility

Technology in use

Provided data warehousing technologies

Analytical capability of the solution

Conclusion

Selecting the Right Revenue

Accounting System

In recent times, most of the airlines are plagued with huge fixed

Airlines around the world have to operate on tight schedules and

costs and bankruptcies. Hence it is imperative for the airlines to

accuracy for detail, where every activity is crucial and critical to run

take decisions with regards to CAPEX/OPEX and high level of

the business successfully. As they are heavily technology driven

agility to overcome these obstacles.

they need to ensure that they are using the right vendor and the
right system to achieve predefined targets. It is imperative for

To summarize, Revenue Accounting systems add significant value

airlines to choose the right partner.

to airlines day-to-day decision making. With highly advanced tools

available in the market, airlines should go for a long term solution

Airline business is dependent on partnerships in different

that not only meets its current requirements but also the challenges

operational functions. Lately most of the airlines have been

that the industry might face in the future. The chosen system must

maintaining a vendor pool for finding the right partner and like any

be capable of reducing possible revenue leakage possibilities,

other industry gets inquiries, calls, and proposals from several

presenting timely and accurate reports to the higher management

vendors in various areas of operations on a daily basis. With so

and bringing process improvements in the overall Revenue

many options available it is difficult for the airlines to make right

Accounting function of an airline.

decisions.

Industry governed systems such as Revenue

Accounting also gets highly customized to the airlines need over a

The success of such an engagement depends on the experience

period of time. It becomes difficult as well as risky for the airlines to

and commitment of the technology partner that can lead to a long

make an easy change of system. PRA operations remain a

term partnership between the two organizations. Hence it is critical

non-core process for an airline but the information coming out is

for an airline to perform a thorough due diligence before finalizing

critical for the functioning of the system.

the partner with relevant experience, resources, scalability, well

established processes and data security.

About NIIT Technologies

NIIT Technologies is a leading IT solutions organization, servicing customers in North America,
Europe, Asia and Australia. It offers services in Application Development and Maintenance,
Enterprise Solutions including Managed Services and Business Process Outsourcing to
organisations in the Financial Services, Travel & Transportation, Manufacturing/Distribution, and
Government sectors. With employees over 7,000 professionals, NIIT Technologies follows global
standards of software development processes.

Over the years the Company has forged extremely rewarding relationships with global majors, a
testimony to mutual commitment and its ability to retain marquee clients, drawing repeat
business from them. NIIT Technologies has been able to scale its interactions with marquee
clients in the BFSI sector, the Travel Transport & Logistics and Manufacturing & Distribution, into
extremely meaningful, multi-year "collaborations.

NIIT Technologies follows global standards of development, which include ISO 9001:2000
Certification, assessment at Level 5 for SEI-CMMi version 1.2 and ISO 27001 information
security management certification. Its data centre operations are assessed at the international
ISO 20000IT management standards.

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