Air Astana, the flag carrier of the central Asian state of Kazakhstan, has signed up for the CRIS frequent flyer and customer relationship management solution from Mercator, the airline IT solutions provider of the Dubai-based Emirates Group.

CRIS will power “Nomad Club”, Air Astana’s frequent flyer program, and will offer members an extensive range of innovative, appealing and user-friendly features.

Nomad Club members will be able to access CRIS functionality via Air Astana’s website www.astana.com. The system’s extensive customer relationship functionality will allow timely access to quality passenger information, which will help Air Astana to better understand their customers and deliver services to match their customer expectation.

Mr Ashendra Liyanage, VP Sales and Marketing of Air Astana, said: “We are currently experiencing rapid growth and Air Astana is becoming a major player in the CIS region. Nomad Club will continue to foster our setting of quality standards and will further augment our goal of establishing the Air Astana website as “a one-stop Travel Shop for Kazakhstan.  

“CRIS will be one of the key enablers for the success of Nomad Club and we’re looking forward to launching this to our customers in December 2007. We are confident that it will give us a key competitive advantage.”

Patrick Naef, Head of Mercator and Divisional Senior Vice President IT, Emirates Group said: “We are very pleased that Air Astana chose Mercator for enabling this business critical solution. We see this as the beginning of an important relationship for us that will grow with time.

"CRIS will assist Air Astana in identifying their valued customers and meeting their specific needs. The solution is already managing millions of frequent flyer accounts in customer airlines around the world, adding value to their customer service and to their commercial success.”

Air Astana is a joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and BAE Systems. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo services to more than 40 domestic and international destinations across Europe and Asia.

Mercator’s smart and cost effective solutions in passenger experience, air cargo management, finance and revenue accounting are used by more than 100 airlines and airports all around the world. Customers for its CRIS frequent flyer and customer relationship management solutions include Emirates, Jet Airways, Philippine Airlines and SriLankan Airlines. 

Top