Cathay

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLYING NONSTOP WITH ACTIAN

SUCCESS STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Cathay Pacific Airways finds nonstop stability and cost savings with Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. In 2007, with the help of Ingres open source technology, Cathay Pacific transported 23.3 million passengers and 1.6 million tons of cargo - reaping numerous accolades for "best airline" in the Asia/Pacific region. With open source technology from Actian, Cathay Pacific ensures that passengers and their baggage travel as smoothly as possible from one destination to the next.

CHALLENGE

When arriving at Hong Kong International Airport from Los Angles, after an unexpected plane change in Tokyo, you are relieved to discover that your luggage arrives with you. The behind-the scenes efficiency of your airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, is due in part to the Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. The airline's Station Control System (SCS) application runs on top of Ingres, coordinating all the operation activities among Cathay Pacific teams to ensure its passengers get the best service.

Founded in 1946, Cathay Pacific Airways is Hong Kong's largest airline, employing more than 26,000 employees worldwide and offering cargo and passenger services to 120 destinations in 37 countries and territories. Cathay Pacific is known for its outstanding customer service and on-time delivery, consistently receiving top awards and recognition as the best airline serving Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. The carrier is committed to offering quality products and the best possible service to its customers around the world.

With extensive passenger and cargo activity at its hub in Hong Kong, the company required a stable and easy-to-manage method for coordinating operation activities among different teams at Hong Kong International Airport, with the goal of ensuring the best possible service to passengers.

SOLUTION

Cathay Pacific looked to the Ingres Database to support its mission-critical station control system. SCS is responsible for the scheduling, assignment, and coordination of all passenger aircraft on the ground at the airport. It acts as the "conductor," ensuring that people, processes, and facilities are assigned to the correct tasks at the correct time. As flights arrive and depart on different schedules, SCS ensures that every flight is assigned to a gate, gate personnel are alerted to flights arriving early or late, baggage handling facilities are provisioned, and so on.

Cathay Pacific chose Actian because, according to Don Lau, administrator at Cathay Pacific, "The Ingres Database is stable, reliable, and easy to manage." Lau adds, "It's an internal system, but one of the most important systems for our airport operations. Our users are pleased by the stability of the system."

Cathay Pacific requires only two IT people to develop and maintain its mission-critical Station Control System. The Ingres Database is built on an open source model, freeing customers from costly and cumbersome proprietary databases solutions.

Cathay Pacific upgraded to the open source enterprise version of the Ingres Database in April of 2007. "We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the upgrade process went," says Lau. "Actian has done a good job of maintaining compatibility between its older and latest versions. We can take advantage of new features in the latest versions with minimal changes to our existing code."

In addition to the Ingres Database, the company uses Ingres OpenROAD, an open source solution for rapid application development and flexible deployment. OpenROAD-based applications are deployed on client terminals located throughout the airport and provide real-time visibility into the movement of ground-based aircraft to airport, airline, and security staff .

Lau notes that in the past Cathay Pacific has taken advantage of Actian Enterprise Support Services. "We found the Actian support services to be quite helpful," he says. "Our Actian support engineers have been working with the product for many years, so their experience spans both the legacy and the new Actian technologies."

RESULTS

Ingres Database helps Cathay Pacific ensure a seamless and successful experience for passengers traveling through the Hong Kong International Airport.

In 2007, Cathay Pacific transported 23.3 million passengers and 1.6 million tons of cargo. Although these numbers sound daunting, Cathay Pacific continues to maintain top quality service ratings and receive industry wide recognition - in part because of the smoothness of its internal operations, and a stable, easy-to-manage database solution. In 2007 alone, among many other awards, Cathay Pacific received the following accolades:

SUCCESS STORY

• Best Asia/Pacific Airline MRO Operation
• Airline of the Year
• Best Airline
• Best Cargo Carrier - Asia Award
• Best Transpacific Airline
• Most Punctual Airline between London and Hong Kong (by Air Travel magazine, for a third consecutive year)

Clearly Cathay Pacific does many things right - one of which is to rely on Actian to ensure that passengers travel as smoothly as possible from one destination to the next.

Lau says, "The Ingres enterprise database has allowed us to incorporate a stable, highly functional, and flexible application into our system with ease - and at an affordable price point that lowers our total cost of ownership."

Cost savings is also a key benefit. "A major benefit of working with the Ingres database is cost savings," says Lau. "We were able to realize significant cost savings with Actian through its open source commercial model, which does not require an up front license purchase, and by minimizing our application migration costs."