Amazon Web Services (AWS)a subsidiary ofAmazon.com has signed an agreement with Star Alliance. The world's largest airline alliance, with its 26 members has announced that it is moving its entire IT infrastructure to the AWS cloud in order to reduce costs and improve performance.
Star Alliance is working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - an AWS partner - to migrate all its data, platforms and applications to AWS. This operation will enable the alliance to close its various data centres. And reduce its total management costs by 25%.
The alliance is now using the full range of AWS capabilitiesThese include analysis, security, managed databases, storage and machine learning.
Total management flexibility for Star Alliance
AWS has been around for 14 years and offers 175 applications in a wide range of fields. These include storage, databases, networking, analysis, robotics, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile telephony, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality, media and application management. AWS is present in 77 zones in 24 geographical regions. Half a dozen other areas will soon be joining the cloud.
By migrating to AWS, Star Alliance is gaining new flexibility to optimise the use and costs of its infrastructure. This flexibility is crucial for responding to changing demand and rules in the Covid crisis. For example, with the introduction of quarantines and travel restrictions, Star Alliance instantly reduced its expenditure by 30 % by limiting the use of AWS.
A daily airline in the Amazon cloud
By using the AWS system, Star Alliance is integrating new services to make travel easier and safer. Passengers are already benefiting. Here are some examples, Star Alliance has created a baggage tracking application which uses Amazon Aurora (the AWS relational database built for the cloud). This application can process data from several airline baggage systems, providing operational dashboards for better baggage tracking.
Another example is theStar Alliance Inter Airline Through Check-in Hub" application also uses AWS services. It enables more than 12 million transactions per month to be processed and analysed during peak full stops for stopover journeys. It also analyses the fluidity of transfers between airlines at airports, and provides information to the AWS.airport transfers for passengers.
Star Alliance also uses AWS analytics and databases to identify future travel demand and trends.. In the future, Star Alliance also plans to create a database on Amazon Simple Storage Service. This will centralise access to data for Star members in order to accelerate the development of enterprise applications and functionalities for customers. In particular, it will enable prevention of fraud linked to loyalty programmes.
AWS therefore seems omnipotent, controlling all the alliance's air traffic management. A bit like Orwell's 1984. But for the good of all, swear Star and Amazon...
