Delhi HC upholds AI's passenger service system tender award to Amadeus

Amadeus won the contract; rival Sabre had moved court challenging favouritism in tender process

The Delhi High Court has refused to set aside Air India’s decision to award the passenger services system (PSS) contract to Amadeus and dismissed rival firm Sabre’s plea in this regard.

“We are not inclined to grant any relief to the petitioner (Sabre). The petition is accordingly rejected,” a division bench of the Delhi High Court said in their judgment on Wednesday.

A PSS covers wide ranging functions including flight scheduling, ticket reservation, e-commerce, loyalty programme and departure control.

Air India had invited bids for a new seven-year PSS contract in March as its existing agreement with SITA is due to end next year.

Sabre moved court in June after Air India selected Amadeus for the contract and accused the national carrier of favouritism in the selection process. It said the selection criteria was tailored to suit Amadeus. Sabre further claimed that acquiring its product would save Air India Rs 900 crore.

While Sabre’s financial bid was Rs 1,039 crore, Amadeus quoted Rs 1,957 crore for the contract. Sabre’s overall score under the quality-cum-cost-based selection method was lower than Amadeus' and so it was not selected for the contract.

The High Court observed that in order to interfere in commercial transactions, it must be satisfied that some element of public interest exists.

“The submission of the petitioner, that keeping in mind Air India has financial distress and is being disinvested, such a tender is not in public interest cannot be accepted. The need of a passenger service system is the need of the hour for Air India, considering its existing service provider would stop providing services from June, 2022,” the

division bench noted.

“Air India is the best judge of its own requirement i.e., choosing a system that gives an edge to the airline over its peers, which ultimately will translate into increased revenue. As a result, merely because the financial bid of the petitioner is the lowest, would not mean it is automatically to be accepted,” the bench said.

Air India did not immediately respond to an email query. In a statement Amadeus said, “We do not comment on ongoing discussions with our partners. Amadeus is committed to securing long-term relationships with all partners in the travel community. We have developed our technology in partnership with the travel industry for over 30 years. We combine a deep understanding of how people travel with the ability to design and deliver the most complex, trusted,

critical systems our customers need.”

Sabre, in a statement, said, "Air India has been a Sabre partner for more than 20 years and while we are disappointed by the Dehli High Court ruling, we remain deeply committed to supporting the Indian travel marketplace. We now look forward to continued partnerships with Air India and with other India-based partners as we continue to provide the technological support our airline and other travel partners need to enable recovery and future growth."

While law firm MVKini represented Air India, JSA and Khaitan & Co appeared for Sabre and Amadeus respectively.