Description
TMC Air France AMADEUS Project Computer Reservation system control or access card Demo. Type 2a
BULL CP8 chip Smartcard.
In the 1980s, the "Amadeus" project in France is the creation and development of the Amadeus Global Distribution System (GDS).
The Core Project: Amadeus GDS (1987)
In 1987, Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia, and SAS jointly founded Amadeus. The project was launched as a massive European technological counterweight to dominant U.S. computer reservation systems (CRSs) like Sabre.
• The French Tech Connection: While the corporate headquarters were placed in Madrid, Spain, the core product development and engineering hub was built in Sophia Antipolis.
• The Architecture: The early 1980s infrastructure relied heavily on a mixture of computing assets. The initial price quotation engines were derived directly from a Unisys mainframe architecture provided by Air France, while the core booking software was adapted from System One (a spinout of Eastern Airlines) running on IBM technology.
• Amadeus France: In November 1988, Amadeus France was officially established on Saint Germain Island in Issy-les-Moulineaux, just outside Paris, to manage the domestic rollout of the network to French travel agencies.
