Air Tahiti Nui to Expand e-Ticketing and Codeshare Capabilities through Sabre Airline Solutions’ New Generation Reservations Suite

Leading Carrier to French Polynesia Expands Current Capabilities Through Choice of SabreSonic after Extensive Market Evaluation

SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 27, 2004–Sabre Airline Solutions, the industry leader in airline operations technology, and Air Tahiti Nui, the international flag-carrier of Tahiti, announced today a five-year contract for SabreSonic, the industry-leading new generation airline passenger solutions suite, including options that will enable the carrier’s aggressive roll-out of e-ticketing.

As the international airline of Tahiti, Air Tahiti Nui is the leading carrier to French Polynesia providing a route network linking the South Pacific globally to the United States, France, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. Air Tahiti Nui has been a hosted customer of Sabre Airline Solutions for the past five years.

“We are entering an exciting phase at Air Tahiti Nui with the future expansion of our flight services to New York and Sydney and the move to adopt e-ticketing standards across our network,” said Nelson Levy, chief operating officer, Air Tahiti Nui. “In line with this operational expansion, we required the IT support, functionality and commitment from the most experienced vendor on the market and turned to the expertise of Sabre Airline Solutions after an exhaustive six-month evaluation. We are 100 percent confident in the services and capabilities of the SabreSonic solution and are looking forward to leveraging the new capabilities of the passenger management suite and the added e-ticketing capability to support our expanded operations.”

Air Tahiti Nui selected SabreSonic, the industry’s first new generation airline passenger solutions suite, after evaluating the results of a comprehensive market assessment covering the airline’s requirements which included an aggressive e-ticketing rollout, the capabilities to provide e-ticketing on itineraries that included other airlines (interline e-ticketing), Web booking and codeshare capabilities.

“We are very pleased to be able to leverage our experience with Air Tahiti Nui to support its expansion in the market,” said Cameron Curtis, vice president, Asia Pacific for Sabre Airline Solutions. “We are also very proud to have been selected amongst our competitors as the number one provider of reservations hosting. Air Tahiti Nui’s appraisal of the market and selection of Sabre Airline Solutions is testament to the fact that SabreSonic is becoming the top reservations choice in the region, partly for its ability to accommodate almost any business model such as providing a full-service offering with international services for a carrier of the size of Air Tahiti Nui. I believe we are the only ones that have a solution today that provides the type of flexibility that carriers like Air Tahiti Nui require.”

Air Tahiti Nui is the third carrier in the Asia Pacific region that has announced the selection of SabreSonic to drive its shopping, selling and customer service. SabreSonic has experienced wide customer acceptance as the new generation system for carriers of all sizes, with 10 new carriers signing on since the launch of the industry’s new model for passenger management in January.

    Under the agreement, Air Tahiti Nui will receive the following:

    --  SabreSonic Res -- which will provide Air Tahiti Nui advanced
        reservations management capabilities and the ability to grow
        revenue efficiently and manage every channel of distribution.
        The offering includes the industry's leading online booking
        engine, along with shopping, ticketing and codeshare
        capabilities all managed from a single, easy-to-use graphical
        user interface (GUI). Air Tahiti Nui will leverage the
        ticketing capabilities for hosted electronic ticketing and GDS
        electronic ticketing. The capabilities within SabreSonic Res
        also enable codeshare arrangements with Qantas, Japan Airlines
        and Air France.

    --  SabreSonic Check-In -- enabling both efficient passenger
        processing and a customer-centric focus both on and off
        airport, this suite will help Air Tahiti Nui streamline
        operations and enhance the customer travel experience.
        Capabilities in this suite include check-in, re-accommodation
        and automated fee collection capabilities, all managed from a
        single, easy-to-use GUI.

    --  SabreSonic Inventory -- offering advanced inventory management
        capabilities such as serial, virtual and continuous nesting to
        enable the industry's only origin-destination based inventory
        management solution.

    --  SabreSonic Command -- the only Web-based tool available in the
        industry that offers flexible options for an airline to easily
        and quickly configure and manage its passenger solution system
        from one central location based on the carrier's profile.

    About Sabre Airline Solutions

Sabre Airline Solutions, a Sabre Holdings company, is the world’s largest provider of software products, reservations and departure control systems and other passenger management systems, and consulting services that help airlines simplify operations and lower costs. Sabre Airline Solutions’ proven leadership is demonstrated by the growing number of airlines that leverage the technology and services: More than 200 airlines worldwide use Sabre Airline Solutions’ broad portfolio of smart solutions for decision-support tools to increase revenues and improve operations. More than 100 airlines worldwide rely on Sabre Airline Solutions for passenger management solutions, with 15 new carriers added and nine carrier renewals for SabreSonic Res advanced reservations in 2003. In the first half of 2004, six new carriers signed up the new generation passenger solution, and another three carriers renewed contracts. In addition, more than 100 clients worldwide have turned to Sabre Airline Solutions consulting group for strategic, commercial and operational consulting. More than 500 contracts worldwide were signed in 2003 within Sabre Airline Solutions.

Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.

Sabre Airline Solutions, the Sabre Airline Solutions logo, SabreSonic, SabreSonic Res, SabreSonic Check-In, SabreSonic Inventory and SabreSonic Command are trademarks and/or service marks of an affiliate of Sabre Holdings Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.


    CONTACT: Sabre Airline Solutions, Southlake
             Kathryn Hayden, 682-605-2252
             kathryn.hayden@sabre-holdings.com

    SOURCE: Sabre Airline Solutions