The Hindu : TCS acquires Airline Financial

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Business

Business

TCS acquires Airline Financial

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI MAY 6 . Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a significant player in global software and consulting services, has announced the acquisition of Airline Financial Support Services India Pvt. Ltd. (AFS). A business process-outsourcing outfit, AFS caters to the requirements of the airline and hospitality industry.

TCS has acquired Swissair's stake in AFS, which was formed in 1992, and is a joint venture of Swissair, holding 75.1 per cent. Tata Sons holding 24.9 per cent as a captive BPO arm of the airline to perform revenue accounting services.

AFS offers a range of services extending from airline revenue accounting services, traffic Accounting, cargo revenue accounting, passenger interline billing, navigation support, level 1 h/w support, frequent flyer programme administration. S. Ramadorai, CEO, TCS said, ``We see considerable value being added from AFS which is a financially sound venture. The BPO business is an opportunity that is driven by the support requirements of the customers and its cost equation with regard to the back office software."

With the acquisition, TCS is geared to take advantage of its global presence by marketing BPO services to international airlines and hospitality industry. In fact, AFS, which would be an integral part of TCS, will be the Centre of Excellence in the TCS BPO's offerings for airline/hospitality industry.

According to Mr. Ramadorai, the plans include expanding core offerings to the transportation industry _ airlines, shipping, rail and car rentals. It will also have offerings to the leisure and hospitality industry including aggregators. Also, plans are afoot to ramp up to 2000 seats in the next three years.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business