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Airline Distribution 2006 Nets Record Audience of Airline Executives, Networking Sessions Producing Business Results

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 09:01 CDT

WASHINGTON, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Airline Distribution 2006, hosted by UATP and Airline Business magazine, netted a record audience this year with over 200 attendees and 40 airlines represented, 29-30 March in Dublin.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040318/UATPLOGO )

Keynote presenter Duane Futch, Director of Global Travel Services, Wal- Mart stated, "Attendance at the 2006 UATP Distribution Conference represented an outstanding return on investment for our Company." Wal-Mart operates one of the largest business travel budgets in the world with 1.7 million Wal-Mart associates worldwide.

"This conference not only provided vast learning and networking opportunities for us, but with airline representatives outnumbering vendors, it gave us the opportunity to discuss CheckFree's new UATP partnership with airline decision makers," stated George R. Eubank, director, National Retail Sales, CheckFree.

Eubank was one of four expert panellists for a session titled: the Next Generation Payment Models. He and other representatives from PayPal, BilltoBill and UATP addressed lowering the cost of accepting payments.

"We are already following up on new business prospects as a result of attending the UATP-Airline Business Distribution Conference which made our sponsorship even more valuable," Eubank added.

PayPal also announced its partnership with UATP as a way to gain quick access for their payment methods to UATP's global network of merchant airlines and travel agencies. PayPal and CheckFree expect their UATP-related products to be available to consumers by Q3 2006 or sooner.

"The overall success of the conference came from the outstanding content that each presenter and panellist brought to Airline Distribution 2006 along with the active audience participation," said Ralph Kaiser, president and CEO, UATP. "This is the second year that UATP has partnered with Airline Business to present the conference. The editorial and industry content improves every year; Airline Distribution 2007, being held in the Americas, will prove even more valuable!"

Panels included: * New Airline Distribution Strategies * Data Privacy and Fraud * GDS - new deals and models * Expanding Choices in Distribution * The Continued Rise of the Online World

Visit http://uatp.com/distribution2006 for further information or http://traveltalkradio.com/ for clips from the conference.

About UATP

UATP accounts are accepted as a form of payment for corporate business travel by more than 220 airlines worldwide. UATP accounts are issued by these airlines: Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, American Airlines , Austrian Airlines, Continental Airlines , Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines (Nasdaq OTC: JALSY), Qantas Airways, Ltd., United Airlines (BULLETIN BOARD: UALAQ) , US Airways (UAIRQ.OB), and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. AirPlus International issues the UATP-based Company Account for: British Airways , Continental Airlines , and Lufthansa German Airlines.

CONTACT: Wendy L. Ward of UATP, +1-202-626-4077, wward@uatp.com.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040318/UATPLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

UATP

CONTACT: Wendy L. Ward of UATP, +1-202-626-4077, wward@uatp.com

Web site: http://uatp.com/http://traveltalkradio.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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