This document discusses airline revenue accounting and selecting a revenue accounting system. It provides background on how revenue accounting has advanced with technology. Key points: - Revenue accounting systems now provide real-time analytics to help airlines make informed decisions. - Major vendors include Mercator, NIIT, SITA, and newer entrant Amadeus. Systems must integrate with other airline systems. - When selecting a system, airlines should consider the vendor's experience, product features, analytical capabilities, and ability to meet future needs and industry standards. The right system provides timely, accurate reporting and process improvements.

1. www.niit-tech.com
Airline Passenger Revenue Accounting
NIIT Technologies White Paper

2. CONTENTS
Introduction
3
Airline Operations
3
Revenue Accounting Function
3
Selecting the Right Revenue Accounting System
6
Conclusion
6

3. TRANSPORTATION
TRAVEL
CARGO
PACKAGING
TRANSPORTATION
TOUR
TRAVEL
GUIDE
TRAVEL
TRANSPORTATION
CARGO CARGO
LOGISTICS
TRAVEL
JOURNEY
GUIDE
TRANSPORTATION CARGO
JOURNEY
CARGO
GUIDE
LOGISTICS
TRAVEL
Introduction
that accumulates on their desks. This has been possible due to
Airline business, which was a monopolistic and profitable
business till mid 90’s, 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
3

4. 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
5
2.53%
Rene Perez Associates
eRev
US/Independent
4
2.02%
Unknown
NA
NA
4
2.02%
In House Mainframe
NA
NA
1
0.51%
Maureva
EDGAR
Mauritius
1
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
KPI’s 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.
4

5. 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 Altéa 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, Altéa Inventory, and Altéa 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
5

6. • 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 airline’s 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 airline’s 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.
4

7. 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.
India
NIIT Technologies Ltd.
Corporate Heights (Tapasya)
Plot No. 5, EFGH, Sector 126
Noida-Greater Noida Expressway
Noida – 201301, U.P., India
Ph: + 91 120 7119100
Fax: + 91 120 7119150
Americas
NIIT Technologies Inc.,
1050 Crown Pointe Parkway
5th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30338, USA
Ph: +1 770 551 9494
Toll Free: +1 888 454 NIIT
Fax: +1 770 551 9229
Europe
NIIT Technologies Limited
2nd Floor, 47 Mark Lane
London - EC3R 7QQ, U.K.
Ph: +44 20 70020700
Fax: +44 20 70020701
Singapore
NIIT Technologies Pte. Limited
31 Kaki Bukit Road 3
#05-13 Techlink
Singapore 417818
Ph: +65 68488300
Fax: +65 68488322
Write to us at marketing@niit-tech.com
www.niit-tech.com
D_39_260713
A leading IT solutions organization | 21 locations and 16 countries | 8000 professionals | Level 5 of SEI-CMMi, ver1.2
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