Cable&Wireless has signed a five-year, €15m contract with budget airline Ryanair to manage its European communications network. The deal will cover 180 airports in 26 countries as well as other bases, data centres and corporate offices.
The new network will underpin Ryanair’s online booking system and its airport check-in kiosks. The check-in kiosks should enable passengers to proceed quickly through an airport as they can be used to obtain boarding passes and check-in luggage.
As well as offering Ryanair an always-on communications network, the new platform should save the airline money. Each Ryanair site will be connected to a single secure, high speed WAN.
“This contract will enable us to gain better productivity and efficiency at lower costs from using a single large telecommunication network. As we develop our facilities, it is important that we have a communication network that delivers what we need in terms of reliability and operational effectiveness, but also has the capacity to grow its Pan-European network,” said Eric Neville, Ryanair’s head of IT.
The deal builds on a long standing relationship between the two companies. “This is a fantastic deal for Cable&Wireless as it cements our strategic relationship with Ryanair to 2014,” said Nick Lambert, managing director, Global Markets, Cable&Wireless Worldwide.
Ryanair carried 60 million passengers in 2008 on over 850 routes in 26 countries. It employs around 6,000 people.
