Computer reservation system

Computer reservation systems, or central reservation systems (CRS), are computerized systems used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSs were later extended for use by travel agencies, and global distribution systems (GDSs) to book and sell tickets for multiple airlines. Most airlines have outsourced their CRSs to GDS companies, which also enable consumer access through Internet gateways.

Modern GDSs typically also allow users to book hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets as well as other activities and tours. They also provide access to railway reservations and bus reservations in some markets, although these are not always integrated with the main system. These are also used to relay computerized information for users in the hotel industry, making reservation and ensuring that the hotel is not overbooked.

Airline reservations systems may be integrated into a larger passenger service system, which also includes an airline inventory system and a departure control system. The current centralised reservation systems are vulnerable to network-wide system disruptions.

History

thumb|Preserved [[mainframe computer unit of the MARS-1 at the JR East Railway Museum in Saitama, September 2015.]]

MARS-1

The MARS-1 train ticket reservation system was designed and planned in the 1950s by the Japanese National Railways' R&D Institute, now the Railway Technical Research Institute, with the system eventually being produced by Hitachi in 1958. It was the world's first seat reservation system for trains. The MARS-1 was capable of reserving seat positions, and was controlled by a transistor computer with a central processing unit and a 400,000-bit magnetic drum memory unit to hold seating files. It used many registers, to indicate whether seats in a train were vacant or reserved to accelerate searches of and updates to seat patterns, for communications with terminals, printing reservation notices, and CRT displays. By the time SABRE was fully completed in December 1964, it was the world's first online transaction processing system, and at the time, "the world's largest private real time commercial data processing system".

Other airlines established their own systems. Pan Am launched its PANAMAC system in 1965 and Delta Air Lines launched DELTAMATIC in 1965, both of which had been developed by IBM alongside SABRE as part of the SABER joint project (and then American insisted on a different name for its project, resulting in the name SABRE). DELTAMATIC was followed by the Delta Automated Travel Account System (DATAS) in 1968.

In 1965, IBM generalized its work on the SABER joint project into Programmed Airline Reservation System (PARS), which became the industry standard by 1971. From 1971 to 1973, American migrated SABRE to a PARS-based system.

For many years, global distribution systems (GDSs) have had a dominant position in the travel industry. To bypass the GDSs, and avoid high GDS fees, airlines have started to sell flights directly through their websites. Another way to bypass the GDSs is direct connection to travel agencies, such as that of American Airlines.

Major airline CRS systems

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! Name

! Created by

! Airlines using

! Also used by

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|AirCore

Unisys

GDS and other PSS systems, Low Cost Airlines, Full Services Carriers, Hybrid Airlines

Several large corporations

|Abacus (purchased by Sabre in 2015)

All Nippon Airways
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
EVA Airways
Garuda Indonesia
Malaysia Airlines
Philippine Airlines
Royal Brunei Airlines
SABRE
Singapore Airlines

Online travel agencies
Over 450 individual airlines
Over 25 countries in Asia Pacific
Over 80,000 hotels

|- valign="top"

ACCELaero

ISA, Information Systems Associates FZE

Air Arabia
Kam Air
Mahan Air
Zest Air
Over 14 airlines including low-cost carriers and full-service carriers

|Amadeus (1987)

Air France
Iberia Airlines
Lufthansa
Scandinavian Airlines System

All Nippon Airways
Aegean Airlines
Air India
Air Canada
Air Algérie
Air Astana
Air Caraïbes
Air Corsica
Air Côte d'Ivoire
Air Dolomiti
Air France
Air Greenland
Air Mauritius
Air Serbia
Air Tahiti Nui
Air Vanuatu
airBaltic
Aircalin
Asiana Airlines
Austrian Airlines
Avianca
Bangkok Airways
Binter Canarias
British Airways
Brussels Airlines
Bulgaria Air
Camair-Co
CapeAir
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
Cimber Sterling
Corsair
Croatia Airlines
Czech Airlines
EgyptAir
El Al
Etihad Airways
EVA Airways
Fiji Airways
Finnair
Flybe
Garuda Indonesia
Hawaiian Airlines
Hunnu Air
Iberia
Icelandair
Japan Airlines
KLM
Kenya Airways
Korean Air
Kuwait Airways
LACSA
Libyan Airlines
LOT
Lufthansa
Malaysia Airlines
MIAT Mongolian Airlines
Middle East Airlines
OpenSkies
Philippine Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Rossiya
Royal Air Maroc
Royal Brunei Airlines
Royal Jordanian
Ukrainian International Airlines
S7 Airlines
Safi Airways
SATA Air Açores
SATA International
Saudia
Scandinavian Airlines
Seaport Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Southwest Airlines
SriLankan Airlines
Starlux Airlines
Swiss International Air Lines
TACA Airlines
TAM Airlines
TAM Mercosur
TAP Portugal
Thai Airways
Thai Smile
Thai Vietjet Air (soon)
Toumaï Air Tchad
Trans Air Congo
Tunisair
Turkish
Twin Jet
VietJet Air (soon)
Uni Air
Ural Airlines
Widerøe

144 Airline Passenger Service System customers through 60,000 airline sales offices worldwide
90,000 travel agencies worldwide, both offline and online, in 195 countries. Online agencies include:
Yatra.com
MakeMyTrip
Expedia
ebookers
CheapTickets
Opodo
Jetabroad
440 bookable airlines (including over 60 Low Cost Carriers)
Over 100,000 unique hotel properties
30 Car rental companies representing over 36,000 car rental locations
21 Cruise Lines
203 Tour Operators
103 Rail Operators
23 Travel Insurance Companies

|- valign="top"

| ameliaRES

InteliSys Aviation Systems

Over 40 low-cost carriers and regional airlines*
VietJet Air
Thai VietJet Air