New Delhi, June 5 , 2007: OAG, the global flight information and data Solutions Company, has announced the formation of a strategic partnership with the Bird Group, one of the largest diversified groups in the aviation, travel and information technology arena, to strengthen its presence throughout India and the Indian sub-continent.

With immediate effect, Bird Group is OAG’s National Marketing Company for the region, responsible for furthering OAG’s commercial interests in the airline, airport and corporate travel sectors.   

Bird Group Executive Director Ankur Bhatia said: “Our group has a touch point in every vertical in the travel technology, aviation and hospitality industry. Being the market leaders and one of India’s largest travel conglomerates, we have tied up with OAG which has a reputation as a world leader in managing and distributing airline schedules. Its data solutions and market intelligence tools are an excellent fit with our own specialism of providing high value aviation services. By associating with this brand our existing portfolio of services will add another important dimension to the services we offer airlines, airports and the wider air transport industry.”

Duncan Alexander, OAG Managing Director said: “Our new relationship with the Bird Group will give us a significant presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world. OAG brings together buyers and sellers of air travel and transport and we are keen to build a stronger profile in India, which is experiencing phenomenal growth at the moment.”

Alexander continued, “Bird Group’s experience and expertise within the travel agency and corporate sectors indicate a real demand for the OAG suite of travel planning tools. Our first joint initiative is the creation of a micro site to help Bird Group promote OAG’s subscription products such as our online flight search tool, OAG Flights.”

An important element of the partnership will be collaboration at major industry events, the first of which is the 4th annual CAPA Low Cost Airline Symposium in Mumbai next month. OAG is a Global Partner of CAPA (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) and Bird Group is one of the sponsors at the event. Together they will be promoting their partnership and meeting key industry figures to explore commercial opportunities.

Notes to the Editor

About OAG

OAG is a global flight information and data solutions company for the passenger aviation, air cargo logistics and business travel markets. It brings together buyers and sellers of air travel and transport through the management and distribution of airline product information; the supply of corporate travel planning tools; and the promotion of travel and transport products.
OAG’s business is underpinned by its data management expertise. It holds a breadth of travel related content and is best known for its airline schedules database. This holds future and historical flight details for 1,000 airlines and more than 3,500 airports.  Every ten seconds a flight is updated on the OAG system. Over the coming year it will track around 28 million departures. More information about the company, its products and its services is available on the OAG web sites www.oag.com, www.oagdata.com and www.oagcargo.com.

About Bird Group

The Bird Group is one of the largest diversified groups in the aviation, travel and information technology arena. A conglomerate of independent companies, the Bird Group seeks to provide solutions to upcoming challenges in these competitive domains. After ushering in an era of automation in the travel sector, the Bird Group pioneered Business Process Outsourcing and IT enabled services in the Indian Subcontinent. With a turnover of over 36 Million US Dollars, a workforce of nearly 2,800 employees, 40 fully automated offices across the Indian subcontinent and multiple collaborations with leading global business organizations, the group continues to grow and strengthen its network of services.

For more information, visit the Bird Group website at www.bird.in

About Commonwealth Business Media

Commonwealth Business Media, Inc., a subsidiary of United Business Media plc, is the leading information provider to the global trade and transportation market with comprehensive proprietary data, news and analytical content. Its leading brands include The Journal of Commerce, PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions, BACK Aviation Solutions, Air Cargo World, Traffic World, OAG and Aviation Industry Group, a number of directory databases covering the international trade, railroad and trucking markets. The Company also produces more than 30 conferences serving the international trade, aviation and maritime markets.  Commonwealth is headquartered in East Windsor, New Jersey, with offices in Newark, San Francisco, New Haven, Long Beach, Atlanta, Montreal, Toronto, Washington DC, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Singapore, Hong Kong and London. For more information on Commonwealth Business Media, Inc. and the products they offer,

visit www.cbizmedia.com or call 800-221-5488.

For further information please contact:

Charles Carneiro
Head- Marketing & Corporate Communications
The Bird Group
Tel: +91-9810406050
Email: cc@bird.in

Amita Tandan
Account Director
Text 100
Tel: +91-9810415636
Email: amitat@text100.co.in