Kale working on new products for airline sector

Solutions provider to the global airline and travel industries Kale Consultants, which was recently taken over by French company Accelya, is preparing the ground to launch some of the products of the new promoters such as credit card management and sales audit for the Indian airline industry.

In addition, Kale is developing new products such as miscellaneous billing (involving all non-ticket and non-cargo billings) and sales performance management services for the airline and travel sectors.

Two global airlines have recently signed up with the company for miscellaneous billing, which is becoming a significant revenue source for airlines.

After Accelya bought out 70.17 per cent stake in Kale last year, the two firms have already completed the integration process, including aligning the financial year of Kale from July to June and reconstituting the board.

Accelya had paid Rs 172 a share for the acquisition, with the total deal size being about Rs 200 crore.

“Accelya has a strong presence in the South American, African and European markets.

“With this development, Kale will now have better coverage of the global airline industry and an increased portfolio of services,” Mr Vipul Jain, Managing Director of the company, told Business Line . He made it clear that there were no immediate plans to de-list Kale.

“After the acquisition, we have already signed contracts with about eight airlines.

A Turkish airline has signed up for passenger revenue accounting, while Kenya Airways has selected our fare management service,” he said.

Credit card management

Kale is betting big on the credit card management services, with credit cards accounting for nearly 25 per cent of the sales of domestic airlines.

“The service will cover the entire spectrum of credit card management, including fraud and risk management and billing,” Mr Jain said.

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