Automating Airline Refunds: How AI and Amadeus Integration Reduced Processing Time from 30 Minutes to Seconds
Every time a passenger cancels a flight, a chain of manual operations begins inside the airline. An agent opens the request, reviews the fare conditions, calculates the refund amount manually, enters the data into Amadeus, verifies the entry, confirms the operation — and only then initiates the actual refund. On average, this process takes between 15 and 30 minutes per request. Multiply that by thousands of requests per month, and the operational impact becomes significant.
This is the challenge we were brought in to solve for a major international airline.
Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short
A ticket refund is far more than a simple transaction. It is a multi-layered process that intersects fare rules, consumer protection legislation across multiple jurisdictions, various payment methods, ancillary services (baggage, seat selection, in-flight meals), split PNRs, and refund requests from foreign agencies. No ready-made solution exists that can handle this level of complexity at scale.
Without automation, airlines continue to lose resources to manual labor, lose customers due to slow response times, and lose credibility through avoidable human errors.
The Solution: An AI-Powered Headless Platform with Amadeus Integration
We designed and developed a headless refund processing platform — a system that operates entirely through APIs, without a user interface, and manages the complete refund workflow from intake to execution without human intervention.
At the core of the platform is an AI engine that performs two critical functions. First, it automatically reads and extracts data from incoming refund requests — ticket numbers, routes, fare types, payment methods, and ancillary services — eliminating the need for manual data entry. Second, it identifies anomalies and potential fraudulent activity in real time, flagging suspicious requests before they enter the processing queue.
On top of the AI layer, a business rules engine determines refund eligibility and calculates the exact refund amount in accordance with applicable fare conditions and regulatory requirements. The entire system integrates with Amadeus and the airline's internal infrastructure via real-time API connections.
The Core Technical Challenge: Amadeus Integration
Amadeus is one of the most complex and proprietary enterprise systems in the aviation industry. Accurate data extraction, correct interpretation of fare rules, and reliable transaction recording require a level of domain expertise that cannot be sourced from standard development resources.
Prior to development, we conducted an in-depth analysis and produced comprehensive project documentation covering more than 20 cancellation scenarios, each with its own business logic, exceptions, and regulatory considerations. This documentation served as the architectural foundation for the entire system.
Following the proof-of-concept phase, our team achieved 100% completion of all defined test tasks: the system integrated correctly with Amadeus, accurately recognized incoming data, and returned precise results across every scenario.
Results
"We had known for years that this process needed to be automated. We simply didn't believe anyone could understand our domain deeply enough to actually make it work." — Senior representative, airline client.
The platform reduced refund processing time from 15–30 minutes per request to a matter of seconds. Error rates approached zero. Passengers receive responses instantly. Operational overhead is substantially reduced.
This is precisely the type of project Ronnie Projects was built for: complex, high-stakes challenges where no ready-made solution exists and where the cost of failure is significant.
Does This Sound Familiar?
If your organization still relies on manual processes that should be automated — we would welcome the opportunity to learn more. We will identify where time and resources are being lost, and present a clear path forward.