CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is obvious that everything that is sustainable would have to go

through advancement. In science and technology the desire for

improvement is a constant subject which triggers advancements. This

is visible in every ramification and the airline industry is not an

exemption.

Airline flight information system (ARS) used to be standalone

systems. Each airline had its own system disconnected from other

airlines or ticket agents and usable only by a designated number of

airline employees. Travel agents in the 1970s pushed for access to

the airlines' systems. Today air travel information is linked stored

and retrieved by a network of Computer Reservations Systems (CRS)

accessible by multiple airlines and travel agents. The global

distribution system (GDS) makes for an even larger web of airline

information not only merging the buying and selling of tickets for

multiple airlines but also making the systems accessible to

consumers directly. GDS portals and gateways on the Web allow

consumers to purchase tickets directly select seats and even book

hotels and rental cars.(Winston Clifford 1995).

Aviation jobs are known for hitech. Many of the aviation jobs are

made available by the airline operators and airport authorities.

Aviation jobs are one of the few Nigerian jobs that pay like their

foreign counterparts. With the recent aviation security measures

aviation recruitments are done very carefully. Airline operators are

now serious in their screening processes than before. This is

because any kind of misconduct or insecurity may lead to their

license withdrawal. Most graduates are hired through internships

which are normally advertised on this site. These are still very

competitive since many applicants rush for

them whenever available. Graduates also get lucky to be hired

through „Hosts‟ recruitments i.e. when airline operators want to hire

staff that will be serving inside the airplane.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Air Nigeria (formerly Nigerian Eagle Airlines and Virgin Nigeria

Airways) is the national flag carrier of Nigeria. The airline operates

scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. Its base is

Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos. The airline is a

replacement for defunct Nigeria Airways. Its registered office is in Ikoyi

Lagos State while its head office is on the 9th floor of Etiebets Place in

Ikeja Lagos State.

The carrier's loyalty programme is named 'Eagleflier'. On 28

September 2004 the Nigerian government and Virgin Group signed an

agreement to establish a new airline for Nigeria to be called Virgin

Nigeria Airways. Nigerian institutional investors own 51% of the

company and Virgin Atlantic Airways owns 49%. The airline's

inaugural flight was on 28 June 2005 from Lagos to London Heathrow

using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft. Virgin Nigeria has since gone on to

become one of Nigeria's largest airlines carrying its 1000000th

passenger and 4000th ton of airline within two years of operation.

The airline has also received accolades including THISDAY Awards

2006 Airline of the year and a nomination for 2006 African Airline of

the year by ASATA (Association of South African Travel Agents).

[3]

Virgin Nigeria had plans of making Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in

Abuja its second base where in addition to its Lagos base Murtala

Mohammed International Airport it will serve all countries in West Africa.

The Nigerian government set a deadline of 30 April 2007 for all

airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded in an

effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)‟s criteria in terms of re-

capitalization and was re-registered for operation

Aviation jobs in Nigeria are definitely scarce. They are seen as high

qualification and technical jobs. Many of the aviation jobs are for

captains air hosts/hostesses aviation maintenance engineers

aviation security guards traffic and movement controllers etc.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The management of Airline in Nigeria has over the years attracted

poor patronage as a result of errors inherent in the system. It is no

longer a new thing that loss of customers‟ goods is now the order of

the day the reasons are not far-fetched. Due to this manual

procedure involved in Airline management clients have no other

option than to be at the mercy of these error prone procedures.

The method of information storage in the company is poor. This

limits the number of official documents accessible by the customers

because the system is not capable of managing old items of

information which could be of use to be customer of anytime.

There is little or no security control system where the customers‟

goods document and classified information of the customer could be

safe guarded from unauthorized access.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This project is aimed at exposing the relevance and importance of

Airline flight information system (AFIS). It is projected towards

enhancing the relationship between customers and airline agencies

through the use of ARSs thereby easing the flight ticketing and

selling process and all air traveling operations. .

1.4 LIMITATIONS

The project work is limited to ONLINE AIRLINE RESERVATION

PORTAL FOR TRAVELING SERVICES PROVIDER. In the process of

carrying out this research work some factors tried to hinder the free

flow of work. These factors include

 Time: Time factors in the sense that the semester was short

and as a result combing this work with studies was tedious.

 Finance: Finances were rather on the lean side and as a

result it affected the carrying out the research in that monetary

commitment was needed for going to the case study

photocopying document browsing etc.

1.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Airline Reservation System (ARS) is a software application

to assist an airline with transactions related to making ticket

reservations which includes blocking reserving cancelling and

rescheduling tickets.

1. Minimize repetitive work done by the system administrator and

reservation clerks.

2. Maintain consistency among different access modes e.g. by

phone by web at the information desk and across different

physical locations. The users should be basically taken through

the same steps by the system as they go through in

conventional desk-reservation systems.

3. Maintain customer information in case of emergency e.g. flight

cancellation due to inclement weather. The profile can also be

used by the airline company to track user preferences and

travel patterns to serve them better plan routes for better

marketing and efficient scheduling of flights.

4. Maximize the revenue of the airline company by various means:

5. Increase awareness among frequent travelers about various

special offers and discounts.

6. Minimize the number of vacant seats on a flight and maximize

flight capacity utilization.

7. Maintain the capability to adopt a flexible pricing policy. The

price of the tickets should be dynamically determined based on

how early before the date of departure the customer buys the

ticket.

1.6 SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY

The significant of Airline management system is the computerization

of the activities of the organization. It helps to facilitate the dairy

operation of the organization. The economy of the organization is

affected positively because of the computerization of their operation.

The findings of this research will also help the management to

increase the income generation and smooth running of the everyday

activities.

This presentation will be beneficial to all those who make use of

Airline flight information system (ARSs) flight operators air traveling

operators travel agents and airline agencies.

In addition it will assist all those in computer-related disciplines who

may want to appreciate the system and also those doing research on

similar topic.

1.7 SCOPE OF DELIMITATIONS

This study is restricted to the full operations of Air Nigeria Company

with respect to ONLINE AIRLINE RESERVATION PORTAL FOR

TRAVELING SERVICES PROVIDER.

1.8 ASSUMPTIONS

It is assumed that the new system will do the following:

a. the new system will create room for the client to know all the

necessary facts about their operation.

b. The new system will create an avenue where by the

measurement and Gross weight of the airline will be known and

the commensurate fees to be paid.

C. The new system will also make all the on-line operations

carried out in airline management in Air Nigeria an easy task for

official and staff of the establishment.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Administration: is an aspect of running the organization by

devising systems which will run smoothly.

2. Client: This any process that request specific services from

server processes.

3. Computer: This is an electrons machine that can accept;

handle and manipulate data by performing arithmetic

and logic operations without human intervention

usually under the control of programmes.

4. Data: This is for runner of information. It is unprocessed fact.

5. Database is a collection of information that is related to a

particular subject or purpose.

6. Hardware: This is the electromechanical part of computer

system.

7. Information: This is data that have been processed

interpreted and understood by the recipient of the message or

report.

8. Internet is a collection of computer networks that operate to

common standards and enable the computes and the program

they run to communicate directly.

9. Server: This is a process that provides requested services for

clients.