My passport is checked three times before I am allowed into Amadeus’s high-security data centre located in the small and remarkably quiet German town of Erding. I had shown it fewer times at the airport.
To the untrained eye this nondescript grey building situated 28 miles outside Munich looks like any other 23-year old German factory. But take a closer look and you realise how its military-level security demonstrates the real “value” of data to the travel industry in 2013.
There are one-metre-thick steel-reinforced concrete walls designed to withstand the waves of an explosion, no windows, 50cm-thick solid steel doors, 140 cameras watching your every move and more than 3,000 sensors to detect the slightest anomaly that might affect this business-critical operation.
The site was chosen deliberately by Amadeus’s founders Lufthansa, Air France, SAS and Iberia. Erding had no record of hurricanes or tornadoes and the chance of an earthquake hitting the town is tiny.
When my passport is confiscated at reception I realise how the importance of what goes on within these walls cannot be underestimated.
Amadeus’s technology systems support travel agents, airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, car rental companies and corporations around the globe, connecting them to more than 200 international markets.
If the technology fails or the software is sabotaged, the travel trade will lose millions of pounds every second. Planes won’t take off and consumers won’t be able to book, pay or check in.
Technology: Inside Amadeus' Global Distribution System data centre
Register for free to continue reading
Get unlimited access to the latest travel industry news and analysis, comment on articles and sign up to newsletters.
Register for free
Already registered? Login here or below.
Having difficulty logging in? Try these tips, or contact support@ttgmedia.com
