IBM, a global technology and innovation company, has signed a 10-year technology services agreement with Emirates Airline worth approximately $300 million.
IBM will provide IT Infrastructure delivered as a service, allowing the airline to improve efficiency on its passenger support systems and functions.
The agreement provides fully managed services for the IBM mainframe and storage that will help Emirates encrypt data in near real-time. Additionally, the platform allows the airline to build new apps that will support the API Economy - a commercial exchange of business functions, capabilities, or competencies as services packaged in APIs.
Emirates also collaborated with IBM earlier this year to enhance its passenger service system (PSS). IBM technology and services will allow Emirates to re-design its business processes and streamline airport operations.
By moving its IT Infrastructure delivery into a managed services model, the airline will benefit from improved business application performance, resilience, scalability, an agile service delivery model, and significant operational savings.
Emirates has run its ticketing and reservations system on the IBM mainframe for more than 30 years. IBM’s z Systems is the foundation for all of the airline's mission critical data and transactions.
Z Systems technology has enabled Emirates Airline to process ultra-high volumes of real-time business transactions including flight reservations, inventory, check-in, ticketing, and flight information.
Emirates is an airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is wholly owned by the government of Dubai’s Investment Corporation of Dubai.
Emirates is the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 3,300 flights per week from its hub at Dubai International Airport, to more than 148 cities in 78 countries across six continents. Cargo activities are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.
Emirates is the world’s third largest international carrier by scheduled passenger-kilometers flown, the seventh largest airline in the world in terms of revenue, and the largest airline in the Middle East in terms of revenue, fleet size, and passengers carried. The airline is also the fourth-largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried. Emirates launched the longest non-stop commercial flight from Dubai to Auckland on 1 March 2016.
Emirates operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and is one of the few airlines to operate an all-wide-body aircraft fleet. Emirates has orders for 76 Airbus A380s and is the largest A380 operator. Emirates also has orders for 150 Boeing 777-X and 36 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and is the world's largest Boeing 777 operator.
