GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – 11 November 2003 – The first trial of a prototype web-service has been used over 10,000 times by travellers checking flight status information at Geneva International Airport. A survey among almost 230 users revealed that 98 per cent wanted this new method of presenting existing flight information – based on recognizable aviation conventions and the aviation top level domain .aero – to be expanded to other airports worldwid

Jean-Pierre Jobin, Director General, Geneva International Airport, commented: "The pilot has been an impressive success. Travellers using the service found it an extremely useful, simple and easy way to find their own flight details as well as those for friends, family or colleagues. We are delighted of the outcome of our collaboration with SITA on the first trial of the new .aero shortcuts and of having broken new ground in the use of technologies that can cost-effectively deliver new services to customers. The participation of many delegates at the ITU Telecom World 2003 event has significantly contributed to the success of the trial."

A survey of users of the service revealed that 98 per cent would recommend it to friends, colleagues and customers and 75 per cent were very interested, with over 23 per cent somewhat interested in the service being made available at airports worldwide.

Speed of accessing the information was rated as the most useful feature by 83 per cent, with over 44 per cent stating that both the clarity and the type of information presented were useful. 78 per cent said that they expected to use the service while waiting for someone to arrive, 68 per cent on the way to the airport, 56 per cent when changing their flights and roughly 40 per cent to modify arrangements at the last minute.

Those responding were predominantly frequent flyers, with some 34 per cent saying they took a flight each month and over 57 per cent flying more than once a year. Around 82 per cent used a PC or laptop computer to access the information, 14 percent a mobile phone and 3 per cent a handheld computer or PDA.

Marie Zitkova, SITA's Head of .aero, added: "The level of participation and feedback we have received has been fantastic. The trial clearly demonstrated the potential for the new .aero naming conventions and most recent technologies to deliver ever higher levels of customer service in a cost-effective manner. We foresee numerous other applications for all aspects of the aviation community worldwide."

The service, available from 4th October until 7th November, was a result of close collaboration between Geneva International Airport Geneva International Airport and SITA, the IT and telecommunications services organization owned by the air transport community. SITA sponsors and maintains the .aero domain structure on a not-for-profit basis, with support from major industry associations.

For more information contact: .aero.enquiries@sita.aero