History of OAG
A Brief Summary of OAG's History
OAG (Official Airline Guide) has a long and rich heritage dating back more than 150 years. You can follow a chronology of our developments, marked by product innovation, changes in ownership and other milestones.
Note: Until 1993, US-based Official Airline Guides Inc. (forerunner of the OAG brand) and UK-based ABC International were competitive businesses.
1853
First publication of the ABC Alphabetical Railway Guide.
February 1929
First publication of the ‘Official Aviation Guide Of The Airways’ in the U.S., listing 35 airlines offering a total of 300 flights.
June 1946
First publication of the ‘ABC (or Alphabetical) Air Guide’.
1970
Reed International plc acquired the ABC International business.
1970
First publication of a portable travel information product for business travellers - the OAG Pocket Flight Guide.
1983
Launch of OAG Electronic Edition. This was OAG's first online travel planning tool, containing both flight and fare information and available via more than 20 system operators including Compuserve and Dow Jones.
1985
Booking capability added to OAG Electronic Edition. Product renamed OAG Electronic Edition Travel Service.
1989
ABC International launched EasyRes – a reservation system, available to all UK travel agents.
July 1989
Reed International plc acquired the Travel Publishing Interests of News Corporation) from Rupert Murdoch and integrated them with ABC International to form Reed Travel Group.
1991
ABC International launched the industry's first CD-ROM based travel information planning tool, for use on a PC. This was also a 'technology first' for parent company Reed International. The product was so leading-edge, that ABC supplied plug-in CD drives with the product.
1993
Launch of OAG FlightDisk, OAG's first floppy disk-based product.
01 January 1993
Merger of Reed International PLC with Dutch publisher Elsevier NV, to create Reed Elsevier.
September 1993
Reed Elsevier acquired Official Airline Guides from Maxwell Communications Corporation, and integrated it into Reed Travel Group (RTG).
August 1996
All ABC and OAG products and services consolidated under the re-launched OAG brand, including migrating all ABC-branded products to OAG.
February 1998
Launch of a worldwide version of OAG HotelDisk with interactive mapping capability.
Launch of OAG's first browser-based travel information product for use on a company Intranet. This was the first product of its type on the market outside the US.
March 1998
Reed Elsevier restructures RTG forming OAG Worldwide as a stand-alone business focused on airline information
1998
Swedish CAA becomes the first customer for OAG's Internet Timetable services.
April 1998
Launch of OAG MAX, an interactive analytical tool on CD-ROM, allowing users to interrogate the full OAG schedules database.
May 1999
Launch of OAG.com as an online marketing, customer services and communications tool.
September 1999
Worldwide launch of the OAG Travel Information System as a seamless integration of flight, hotel and ancillary travel data. Available in Single User, LAN and Intranet versions, with an Extranet version specifically for Government clients.
November 1999
OAG flight information on the Palm VII wireless organizer available throughout North America.
March 2000
First WAP mobile phone delivery of OAG flight information, on Digital Mobility's InHand service. Available initially in Sweden and the UK.
June 2000
Launch of Frequent Flyer Online, a magazine for business travellers.
August 2000
Launch of all-new travel portal OAG.com, offering web access to the OAG "Flight Engine", the most comprehensive and up-to-date global flight schedules database in the world. The site also supported OAG Mobile (wireless access to OAG travel information) and OAG E-Notification (flight status details direct to a traveler's mobile device).
July 2001
Reed Elsevier sells OAG to private investors.
October 2002
OAG Flight Status is launched to facilitate the communication process between the airlines and their passengers by providing a single, consolidated source of flight status data.
OAG.com is re-vamped with a new look and the inclusion of information available only to OAG subscribers.
February 2003
OAG establishes a dedicated team for the cargo industry to develop and expand the OAG cargo portfolio under the brand OAG cargo.
April 2003
OAGflights.com is launched providing online flight look-up, flight status and seat availability.
October 2003
MobiMate, a leading developer of mobile business application software, include OAG global flight schedules as part of their offering on WorldMate (awarded `Best Travel Application` at the Handango Awards 2003).
February 2004
OAG further expand into the Asia Pacific region with the opening of a new office in Beijing.
March 2004
OAG and Flight Text form a strategic alliance that combines Flight Text’s SMS technology with OAG’s schedule and status data to deliver real-time flight updates direct to mobile phones and handheld devices.
June 2004
OAG Flight-Finder is launched, providing all flight schedules within a geographical region to handheld devices.
January 2005
OAG acquires Inforwarding B.V., a Netherlands-based Internet company providing marketing exchange and rates services to the airline cargo and freight forwarder community.
June 2005
OAG MAX Online is launched, providing market intelligence on global flight schedules and related data.
July 2005
OAG partners with aviation software company 15below and launches PASNGR™ - a ground breaking passenger communications system enabling airlines and travel agents to communicate disruptions to their customers.
January 2006
Launch of Japanese and Spanish language versions of OAG Flights, the world’s most comprehensive and up-to-date flight look-up tool on the Web.
July 2006
Traffic Data module added to the OAG MAX portfolio of analytical tools as a result of OAG’s partnership with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation)
August 2006
Launch of Chinese language web site
December 2006
OAG is acquired by United Business Media Limited on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary Commonwealth Business Media (CBM) as a complementary business to CBM’s other leading aviation brand, BACK Aviation Solutions.
January 2007
OAG wins BrandLaureate Award for brand excellence in the Travel Solutions category, conferred by The Asia Pacific Brands Foundation.
April 2007
The 25th anniversary of the OAG Airline of the Year Awards takes place, in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. This annual gala is the company’s flagship event, celebrating the very best in global air travel.
June 2007
The OAG business undergoes a major restructure to bring greater global focus and integrate the specialist expertise of BACK Aviation Solutions. The OAG business now operates globally in three vertical sectors: Aviation Solutions, Cargo Solutions and Travel Solutions.
June 2007
BACK launches its Carbon Emissions Calculator, developed in partnership with OAG.
July 2007
Launch of Fare Search and Booking facility on the online flight look-up service OAG Flights
September 2007
OAG Cargo Solutions opens its first dedicated cargo office at Ascot, near London Heathrow Airport.
December 2008
CBM is reorganised into two seperate businesses: UBM Aviation & UBM Global Trade. OAG is part of UBM Aviation.