LANGLEY, U.K., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the new U.S. start-up airline, will commence selling tickets today through Travelport's aiRES(TM), a next-generation passenger services system. In a separate deal, Galileo, a Travelport brand and a leading global distribution system (GDS), announced a multiple-year full content agreement with Virgin America, making Galileo the exclusive GDS to offer the carrier's tickets for sale at launch time. The carrier will start flights in August.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061023/NYM260LOGO )

"From the beginning, Virgin America's goal was to build an innovative, next generation airline based on safe and efficient operations, low costs and outstanding guest service," said Flo Lugli, president, Airline Solutions, Galileo by Travelport. "As our aiRES launch customer, we are especially pleased to partner with Virgin America to help make this vision a reality by providing this new generation solution."

aiRES provides the most innovative and flexible technical hosting solution available in the industry today. Built from the ground up on open systems technology and designed to replace less flexible, more expensive hosting systems common in the industry, aiRES(TM) provides comprehensive passenger reservations, inventory control, fares, ticketing and departure control functions and sustains a myriad of different airline business models for today's evolving environment. In addition, the architecture can enable real time customer notifications of service impact situations, such as a weather delay or other flight schedule changes. Designed to be fully configurable, aiRES(TM) allows airlines to respond quickly to changing competitive initiatives and market changes, without the need for complex and costly development.

"aiRES is a key part of Virgin America's strategy to utilize the world's most advanced technologies to provide customers with best-in-class service," said Brian Clark, vice president of Planning and Sales at Virgin America. "The open architecture and configurability will allow us the flexibility to compete and succeed in an evolving market."

Through the new multiple-year full content distribution deal with Galileo, all of Virgin America's published fares and inventory will be available for booking to all Galileo-connected travel agencies and corporations globally beginning July 19.

"Galileo is committed to securing new content for our travel agency customers, and delivering cost-effective and value-added distribution solutions for our supplier customers," said David Falter, president, Galileo Americas. "We congratulate Virgin America as they move toward wheels up this summer and are delighted to help them reach the 49,000 Galileo-connected travel agencies and their customers who prefer to buy, book and manage Virgin America fares through the efficiency of the Galileo GDS channel."

"Virgin America recognizes the value of Galileo's distribution channels and demand aggregation," added Clark. "We are pleased to provide our key travel agent partners, who are also Galileo subscribers, with access to our full content."

About Virgin America:

As San Francisco's hometown airline, Virgin America will serve as many as 10 cities within a year of operation, and up to 30 cities within five years. Virgin America's brand-new planes will offer guests interactive in-flight entertainment systems, plugs for laptops and other portable electronic devices, the ability to order food or chat with other guests from their own video-screen and a host of other features aimed at bringing a little fun back to flying. To learn more about Virgin America visit: http://www.virginamerica.com/.

About Galileo

Galileo is a global technology leader. Its core business is providing electronic global distribution services for the travel industry through its computerized reservation systems, leading-edge products and innovative, Internet-based solutions. Galileo is a value-added distributor of travel inventory dedicated to supporting its travel supplier, agency and corporate customers and, through them, expanding traveler choice. Galileo, a subsidiary of Travelport, is headquartered in Langley, UK, and has offices worldwide. Visit http://www.galileo.com/.

About Travelport

Travelport operates Galileo, a global distribution system (GDS); Orbitz Worldwide, an on-line travel agency; and Gullivers Travel Associates, a wholesaler of travel content. With 2006 revenues of $2.6 billion, the Company has 8,000 employees and operates in 130 countries.

CONTACT: Jill Brenner, Galileo, +1-973-939-1325, or
jill.brenner@travelport.com; or Virgin America, +1-650-762-7187, or
media@virginamerica.com

Web site: http://www.travelport.com/
http://www.galileo.com/
http://www.virginamerica.com/