The following e-mail will be sent on your behalf.

 has sent the following story to you from ElectricNews.net.

The story is available from https://electricnews.net/news.html?code=7716466

Datalex wins Middle East contract
Tuesday, June 04 2002
by Matthew Clark


Irish travel technology company Datalex has signed its first major deal in the
Middle East as the firm continues to try to recover from the doldrums of 2001. 

On Tuesday Datalex said it had signed a major technology deal with Saudi Arabian
Airlines, one of the largest airlines in the Middle East, carrying over 13
million passengers a year. The company claimed that the deal, its first
significant contract in the Middle East, represents the beginning of an
initiative by Datalex in the market.



The Middle Eastern airline has contracted Datalex to develop an Internet booking
engine to connect to its own SARS reservation system using the Irish firm's
products BookIt Consumer and BookIt Matrix. These booking engines provide support
for Arabic, which is a critical requirement for this market.



The software will also link into Saudi Arabian Airlines' frequent flyer program,
Al Fursan, and the product will be initially launched in the domestic Saudi
Arabian market, which accounts for most of Saudi Arabian Airlines' sales. 



"Datalex is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities and
challenges presented by the Middle Eastern market, which will enable us to
continue our strong growth within all sectors of the industry," said Neil
Wilson, head of Datalex's sales and business development initiatives, speaking at
the airline's global sales conference in Jeddah. "We have recently appointed
Altar in Turkey as a value added reseller of Datalex's technology and are
reviewing other distributor relationships throughout the rest of the Middle
East," he added. 



The new customer addition comes after Datalex released its Q1 results last month,
reporting significant improvements in operating expenses year-on-year, after the
firm was hit by the woes created in the travel industry following 11 September.
Using US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the company said in
mid-May that its operating expenses declined from over USD17 million in the first
quarter of 2001 to only USD5.45 million in the three months to March 2002.
Importantly, losses from operations also fell to just over USD4 million, down
from over USD13 million this time a year ago.