Semi Permanent Airline Data

Airlines have full control over the Countries that they wish to appeat in the system which gives them the flexibility to configure them as they wish . Within the countries added to the system the airline will designate which currencies, cities and users will reside within that country as well as being able to set up specific fares and taxes that are country specific.

The system can be configured to accept an unlimited number of currencies and when converting from one currency to another, the base currency is first converted to NUC (Neutral Unit of Currency) and then from NUC to the other currency. Exchange rates are therefore stored in relation to NUC.

The airline can add an unlimited number of cities which is usually limited to the cities that are within the flight schedule. Within the configuration the system administrator can determine the minimum and maximum connection times that the system will use to search for flights that connect with one another that will be acceptable to passengers within the contraints of the airport. The 3 letter IATA code should be used to ensure that syncronization with GDS's and Interline partners is achieved although it is possible to use non IATA city codes where one does not exist for the airport if those flights are not to be distributed outside of the system.

All systems are hosted in the United Kingdom and are set to Zulu Time which is an absolute reference time and does not change with the seasons - other time zones move in relation to Zulu. When setting up different countries and cities the airline should apply the correct time zone to that region and the time difference is used to display the correct time locally in that time zone. Many parts of the system will refer to the time zone such as credit limits for local bookings ensuring that the booking will expire at the correct local time in relation to when the booking was created.

The airline can created an unlimited number of aircrafts within the system where all data such as total capacity, inventory levels, configuration type and seat plans are stored. Any type of aircraft can be added from small commuter planes to long haul, mutliple deck aircraft. This data is then used throughout the system in areas such as scheduling, passenger processing, flight information through to departure control and online check-in where the system will deliver seat maps to customers for real time seat allocation. 

With an advanced messaging module VRS allows airlines to set up unlimited messages links with other systems to provide a fully integrated airline solution. Basic messaging links are Type B TTY messaging and Email with some examples below:

• APIS (Advanced Passenger Information)
• ASC - Advice Schedule Change
• AVS - Availability Status Message
• BSM - Baggage Source Message
• Customer Email Receipt
• Customer Receipt Document
• Meal List (for Catering)
• MSQ - Outbound Interline Message
• Daily Pax Report
• PNL - Passenger Name List
• SNC - Synchronisation Message
• SSM - Schedule Message
• STG - City Guide
• TTY - Teletype

More complex integration links such as Type A Edifact, XML API and Credit Card authorization links are configured by Videcom staff to ensure settings and configuration are fully implemented and tested.