PLAY airlines completes deal with Sabre

Sabre Corporation, a leading technology provider to the global travel industry, and Play airlines,  a fast-growing Icelandic low-cost carrier, today announced a multi-year distribution agreement. Through this partnership, Sabre-connected travel agencies will have seamless access to PLAY airlines' expanding network of affordable flights across North America and Europe.

This strategic agreement comes as PLAY airlines continues to grow its presence in key markets, including the Nordics, the United States, and Canada. The carrier's low-cost model offers travellers cost-effective transatlantic travel options, with Iceland serving as a hub for both North American and European travellers. The airline currently operates a modern all-Airbus fleet, connecting passengers up to 40 destinations in 2024.

This is in line with Sabre's ongoing investments in multi-source content and capabilities, and its commitment to addressing the growing content fragmentation challenge, enabling the efficient integration and normalization of content, and ensuring travel buyers retain the choice, transparency, and service standards they value today.

Sabre and IAG expand partnership with multi-year distribution agreement including NDC content

Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider to the global travel industry, has entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with International Airlines Group (IAG) that will expand their existing partnership and further promote modern travel retailing practices.

The agreement will allow Sabre-connected travel buyers and agencies to sell traditional EDIFACT content as well as having competitive access to NDC offers from British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling – including Additional Price Points and ancillaries – through the Sabre travel marketplace globally. This enhanced content will provide travel agencies with a wider range of options to compare and shop for, while travelers will benefit from an improved experience with more choice and transparency. Sabre and IAG's airlines are working closely together and will communicate as NDC content is rolled out to Sabre-connected travel agencies on a carrier-by-carrier basis.

The agreement between Sabre and IAG underscores the industry's shift towards modern travel retailing, where airlines can differentiate their offerings and provide more personalized experiences to travelers. Both Sabre and IAG are committed to advancing the NDC standard as a key component in the industry's evolution towards modern airline retailing enabled by offers and orders.

LOT Polish Airlines to distribute NDC offers through Sabre's APIs and point-of-sale tools

LOT Polish Airlines and Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, today announced that the carrier's NDC offers are now available to travel agents worldwide through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS). With NDC, agents will have the opportunity to present the most competitive offer, personalized to the passenger's expectations. NDC offers are bookable through the Sabre Offer and Order APIs, agency booking solution, Sabre Red 360, and Sabre's online booking tool, GetThere. 

LOT Polish Airlines recently unveiled a comprehensive strategy for the 2024 to 2028 period that will involve, among other things, increasing its fleet to 110 aircrafts, introducing nearly 20 new destinations, growing passenger numbers by 70%, and strengthening environmental and social efforts. Increasing service quality and passenger satisfaction is another key objective of the strategy; a key component of that is enabling greater personalization through rich content and customized NDC-enabled offers.

"The next five years will be both exciting and challenging for our team. We have ambitious goals and NDC is one of the key enablers for bringing our strategy to life. NDC provides high quality solutions and offers advanced tools for offer and order management. I am deeply convinced that our cooperation with Sabre can make the product available to more agents and increase our competitiveness in terms of individual customers", said Marta Wiśniewska, Global Sales Director at LOT Polish Airlines.

Air France-KLM and Sabre sign NDC distribution agreement

Air France-KLM and Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, announced the completion of a strategic multi-year NDC distribution agreement as well as the renewal of their existing EDIFACT agreement. Collaboration between the partners has been extended with New Distribution Capability (NDC) enriched offers, which will be marketed and sold alongside EDIFACT content, through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS). The Air France-KLM NDC offers will be rolled out to Sabre-connected travel agencies in a phased approach next year.

The agreement demonstrates Sabre's continued commitment to driving value and serving the diverse interests of the various stakeholders participating in the global travel marketplace. It helps agencies to efficiently shop and compare increasingly sophisticated offers, while their travellers will benefit from an enhanced experience with more choice and transparency. It also enables Air France and KLM to distribute their customized NDC offers, thanks to continuous pricing and tailor-made bundles, to the global network of Sabre-connected agencies.

"Choosing the right travel technology partners with which to collaborate is essential. Hence, we are pleased to extend our cooperation with Sabre. This will support our travel agent partners to provide the Air France-KLM enriched and attractive NDC offer, giving the travellers a wider range of options to enhance their journey, from start to finish," said Angus Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer, Air France-KLM.

"Our partnership with Air France-KLM reflects our commitment to modern travel retailing and a big step forward for our presence in Europe," added Roshan Mendis, Chief Commercial Officer, Sabre Travel Solutions. "From the beginning, Sabre has been committed to go beyond NDC to help build a new travel ecosystem that is more efficient and personalized, meeting the dynamic needs of today's travellers. We are delighted to bring our customers EDIFACT and enhanced NDC content as we transition to a new world of Offers and Orders."

Sabre takes hotel guest services to a new level by integrating WhatsApp with Nuvola

Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider to the global travel industry, announced the integration between Nuvola, its task management and guest engagement software, and the renowned messaging platform WhatsApp. Hotels using Nuvola’s Guest Chat module now have the option to choose between SMS messaging or WhatsApp to power their real-time communications with guests. With over two billion users across 180 countries, the integration with WhatsApp provides hoteliers with a powerful tool to offer a differentiated and seamless guest experience.

Additionally, Nuvola recently launched a two-way integration with Sabre’s property management system, SynXis Property Hub. This new integration allows hotel staff to have a more holistic view of the traveler and run operations on-property smoothly.  

“Properties using Nuvola’s Housekeeping module and Property Hub can send real-time updates to ensure the front desk has accurate room status information, such as if the room is cleaned, and can seamlessly check in guests upon their arrival,” said Juan Abello, Vice President of Product Management at Sabre Hospitality and founder of Nuvola. “Furthermore, if the hotel incorporates Nuvola Guest Chat or the Angel guest app, the information exchanged between the property management system (PMS) and Nuvola has the potential to improve the guest experience and increase the hotel’s guest satisfaction score.” Abello added.

Sabre and Air Canada form strategic distribution and retailing partnership

Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider powering the global travel industry, announced this week the completion of a new multi-year distribution agreement that provides Sabre-connected agencies with long-term access to Air Canada’s full content via NDC channels. Under the agreement, Sabre will be able to provide agencies with significantly improved content and offers from Air Canada, including the airline’s dynamically priced fares and new ancillary services.

New, multi-year distribution agreement includes full range of NDC-sourced Air Canada content for Sabre-connected travel agencies

Long-term partnership ensures worldwide distribution via the Sabre travel marketplace

Launch of Air Canada’s NDC content expected in the coming months

Canada’s flagship carrier, Air Canada is actively working with Sabre on the launch of the airline’s NDC offers in the Sabre travel marketplace. The two companies expect to activate Air Canada’s NDC content in Sabre within the coming months. Once Air Canada’s NDC connection to Sabre is live, the Distribution Cost Recovery previously announced by Air Canada will be waived for Sabre-connected travel agencies using this path.

“We’re proud to be taking this next step with Sabre in providing the broadest range of rich Air Canada content, travel options and services to our customers and agency partners,” said Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital for Air Canada. “Air Canada recognizes and appreciates Sabre’s progressive approach and the significant technology investments they’re making, which taken together, will deliver meaningful value to all travel industry stakeholders. This new partnership is the result of long-standing discussions, and it marks a significant next step towards delivering on Air Canada’s distribution promise: a smooth transition for agencies and travel buyers - both larger and smaller.”

Sabre launches United Airlines' New Distribution Capability (NDC) offers to its global network of travel buyers

United's New Distribution Capability (NDC) content will be available via Sabre Red 360, Sabre APIs and GetThere

Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider to the global travel industry, and United Airlines, today announced the availability of United's NDC offers through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS).

Sabre-connected travel buyers, agencies and developer partners will be able to shop, book, and service United's NDC content through Sabre's Offer and Order APIs, the agency point-of-sale tool, Sabre Red 360, and the online booking tool, GetThere.

"We are so pleased to launch United Airlines' NDC content this week, marking the 10th airline with whom we have completed integration and made content available through NDC to agencies around the world," said Kathy Morgan, vice president, NDC and airline supply, Sabre Travel Solutions. "In delivering a suite of NDC solutions and enabling air content in our NDC channels, we are helping airlines go from where they are today to a new modern approach to travel retailing – a key step in the evolution of retailing and distribution in the travel industry."

Travel buyers connected to the Sabre GDS will be able to choose enhanced offers from United such as United's continuous pricing content with the lowest fares available in these channels. They will also have access to more descriptive information on United's flight offers as well as seat selection enabled in the booking path. NDC offers from United are currently available in over 70 countries, with more coming soon.  

Sabre Offer and Order APIs are the foundation of a modern retailing marketplace that allows airlines to dynamically create and distribute tailored offers across any channel, while being seamlessly fulfilled and delivered as orders. Sabre Red 360 unlocks a full spectrum of bookable content and insightful information to efficiently create tailored trip experiences that travel buyers can sell and service.

GOL Linhas Aéreas, Brazil’s largest domestic airline teams up with Sabre for Ancillary IQ

The Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, and GOL Linhas Aéreas, Brazil’s largest domestic airline, today announced the carrier’s successful implementation of Sabre Ancillary IQ™, an AI-based solution designed to help create personalized offers for travellers and drive incremental ancillary revenue opportunities for airline customers.  

Ancillary IQ supports airline retailing strategies by dynamically pricing individual ancillaries and enabling the creation of ancillary bundles. This solution uses machine learning to identify ancillary buying patterns in real-time and optimize pricing to increase conversion and ensure that travellers can easily book the experience that they want. The initial implementation of Ancillary IQ with GOL will focus on seats with additional ancillaries becoming available later this year. 

Sabre and Finnair plan to make Finnair's New Distribution Capability (NDC) content available through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS).

Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology company powering the global travel industry, and Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, plan to make Finnair's New Distribution Capability (NDC) content available through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS). According to the plan, Sabre-connected travel agents will be able to shop, book, and manage Finnair's NDC offers through Sabre's Offer and Order APIs, the point-of-sale tool Sabre Red 360, as well as the corporate booking solution GetThere starting later this year.

"Today's travellers demand customized services and personalized experiences – which is why NDC is one of the cornerstones of Finnair commercial strategy," said Jenni Suomela, vice president of Channel Management & Payments, Finnair. "With NDC we are looking to optimize our approach to product distribution and elevate our customers' booking experience. Joint plan with Sabre targeting to make our NDC content available later this year supports our ambition to offer choice for our trade partners for our NDC-sourced content."

Committed to boosting customer choice across the industry, Finnair last year announced its plans to phase out EDIFACT content distribution and rely exclusively on NDC by the end of 2025. With this move, the carrier expects to increase transparency in the purchasing process, strengthen ancillary sales, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction.

"NDC is a key component of Sabre's strategic objective to create a new marketplace for personalized travel. Sitting at the crossroads of travel, we innovate across our portfolio so that our products scale end-to-end, not just for one particular link in the travel value chain. We are convinced that this approach benefits our airline customers, their agency partners and the travellers we all serve," said Kathy Morgan, vice president, Channel Delivery, Sabre Travel Solutions. "We are excited to be working with Finnair to distribute their NDC content. Finnair is a technologically innovative airline and together we seek to elevate the NDC booking experience and advance the adoption of offer- and order-based travel retailing."