Middle East airline Saudia has been confirmed as one of the first carriers to sign up to use new retailing platform Nevio launched this week by Amadeus.

The modular, cloud-based technology has been developed by the Europe-based GDS to support airlines’ shift from legacy retailing technology to modern e-commerce systems.

The move will see Saudia transition from the Amadeus Altéa Passenger Service System (PSS) to Nevio.

Arved von zur Muehlen, chief commercial officer at Saudia, said: “We want to refocus every aspect of our business around the guest, which is in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

“From the offers we make, to the schedules we operate and the level of flexible and personalised service we provide across all our touchpoints.

“We want every aspect of the Saudia experience to delight our guests. Amadeus Nevio would give us new levels of flexibility and the ability to achieve this throughout our entire operation.”

Amadeus said Nevio will allow Saudia to “transform every aspect of its operations to become more guest-centric”.

The GDS added the technology in “full alignment with IATA’s vision of a more dynamic and modern shopping experience”.

It added: “With the move to Amadeus Nevio, the airline would be able to offer guests more relevant and personalized travel experiences that include its own and partner products, like hotel, airport and destination services.

“Dynamically priced offers will help Saudia gain competitive advantage by presenting granular pricing options to its guests that best suit their particular needs.

“Saudia intends to use Amadeus technology to distribute its advanced merchandising offers through the widest possible distribution channels, supporting end-to-end NDC booking flows.

“Saudia is looking to modernize every aspect of its guest experience, from digital touchpoints to its contact centre and airport service points so guests can self-serve digitally if they choose.

“For example, by directly using a mobile app, guests could easily add or remove ancillary services.”

Saudia has also opted to modernise how it plans its network and schedules. AI will help the airline predict potential disruption to build flight schedules that deliver better on-time performance.

Maher Koubaa, executive vice president airlines EMEA at Amadeus, said: “We are excited to partner with Saudia as one of the first launching airlines of Amadeus Nevio.

“With our latest technology, we are putting the traveller centricity at the core of our offering, allowing airlines to achieve an outstanding end-to-end experience.

“With this new technology the entire experience can now be traveller-centric and that’s hugely exciting.”