Wings Global Travel has acquired data management specialist Alchimea to bring control of critical digital transformation technology in-house.
Wings completed the purchase of Alchimea, which provides the central database capability at the heart of the WingsOne global service platform, after several years as a majority investor.
The software firm, renamed Wings Tech, has moved its operations to Cyprus, southern Europe’s emerging IT innovation hub.
Wings expects the existing Wings Tech Cyprus team to grow to around 30 by the end of the year.
“Wholly owned and managed operations and great technology are what set us apart from other TMCs and enable us to provide a seamless global service,” said CEO and founder Tony Sofianos.
“We don’t believe in using third parties for anything we can do ourselves, which is why every one of our 16 international hubs is a Wings business run by Wings staff. Completing the acquisition of Wings Tech gives us the same level of control of our technology.”
Frank Palapies, Global CIO of Wings, said: “Moving data has become critical to how you move people. Wings Tech’s middleware helps us to manage the transactions and information flows that our team and their clients depend on, from sourcing the best fares and consolidated reporting to delivering realtime data to keep travellers safe and well-informed. This capability underpins everything we do, so we need to own it.”
Palapies said Cyprus is fast becoming a regional hub for entrepreneurship and innovation, positioned between Europe, Africa and Asia.
“The Cyprus government is investing heavily in the technology sector, which makes it an attractive location for businesses. The climate and great transport links also make it appealing to IT talent,” he added.
