New Passenger Management Solution Offers Ultimate Flexibility That Can Quickly
Adapt to Changing Business Models and Market Demands for Both Hosted And
Non-Hosted Carriers Worldwide
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sabre Airline
Solutions, the industry leader in airline operations technology, announced
today its new generation airline passenger solutions suite comprised of easy-
to-use modules to help airlines increase customer loyalty and reduce
operational costs.
SabreSonic is the first passenger management solution built on open
systems architecture for critical airline operations such as pricing and
shopping for airline travel, ticketing and day-of-travel operations. This
open systems underpinning provides airlines with unlimited flexibility to
implement individual or integrated solutions across the entire scope of
passenger solutions, as well as flexibility within the individual modules for
more robust functionality. SabreSonic allows airlines to more quickly adapt
to evolving or new business models compared to any offering in the market. It
also delivers an enhanced customer-centric approach that provides more options
for travelers and the assurance of best value. An example of the benefits
provided by the new SabreSonic solution is the new open systems ticketing
platform that offers the ability for an airline to establish a link to
SabreSonic’s universal electronic ticket hub for a cost-effective, efficient
connectivity between the carrier and its ticketing partner airlines. This
leads to cost-savings and improved customer service for the carrier.
“SabreSonic is the high performing passenger solution that provides
carrier specific flexibility,” said Gianni Marostica, president of Airline
Passenger Solutions at Sabre Airline Solutions. “In today’s market and
projecting into the future, carriers will increasingly require flexibility
from their systems solutions. As their business model evolves, airlines need
to keep the longer view in mind with systems that can offer maximum scope and
scale to accommodate future growth and model changes. Our open systems
approach provides this flexibility to airlines across the travel value chain
from shopping to fulfillment.”
SabreSonic also meets the right cost equation for airlines in today’s
environment. “By making the decision to leverage the open systems approach,
we are able to provide a new generation solution at a price point that
airlines can afford as they are reining in all costs, Marostica said. “We
provide the technology at the right price point, and once in place, the new
technology is further leveraged to help airlines reduce their costs — our
experience has shown that airlines that have used our passenger management
solutions achieve up to 40 percent in cost savings.”
The SabreSonic suite comprises four core modules designed for all carriers
regardless of whether they currently operate an in-house or third-party
system. Beyond the core offering, airlines that choose Sabre Airline
Solutions for their passenger management functionality have access to four
additional modules outlined below. While carriers may decide to take
advantage of the efficiency and cost savings of the Sabre Airline Solution’s
fully integrated solution, they may also choose to obtain only some of the
modules on a component basis. This offering is designed for carriers that may
be concerned about having to undergo the comprehensive transformation that a
switch to a new passenger solutions provider can entail.
The four core components for carriers selecting Sabre Airline Solutions’
hosted passenger solutions suite include:
- SabreSonic Res – offering advanced reservations management
capabilities for airlines of all sizes around the world. This
capability provides carriers 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). - SabreSonic Check-In – enabling both efficient passenger processing and
a customer-centric focus both on and off airport. This suite helps
airlines 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 - 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.
Included in fully Available as Stand
integrated SabreSonic Alone Components
Passenger Solution
SabreSonic Res X X
SabreSonic Check-in X X
SabreSonic Command X
SabreSonic Inventory X X
SabreSonic Shop X X
SabreSonic Ticket X X
SabreSonic Web X X
For those airlines that prefer a gradual solution upgrade to their current
system, SabreSonic offers an array of new high-performance stand-alone
products and services made possible by the open systems underpinning
technology. Sabre Airline Solutions’ replatforming of several major
infrastructure elements to this important new technology positions the company
to offer industry-leading capabilities also to airlines outside its current
family of hosted carriers on a modularized basis.
The newly launched SabreSonic passenger management solution offers
additional components for all carriers including the following:
- SabreSonic Shop – an addition to Sabre Airline Solutions’ shopping and
pricing capabilities that now include all distribution channels. This
gives airlines the flexibility to offer their customers both fare-led
and itinerary-led shopping options, as well as the ability to price
complex itineraries involving multiple carriers and segments. - SabreSonic Ticket – allows airlines access to industry-leading, state-
of-the-art eTicketing functionality that eliminates the need to build
costly systems for electronic ticket distribution and database
maintenance. It also offers the ability for the airline to establish
a link to SabreSonic’s universal electronic ticket hub that provides
cost-effective, efficient connectivity between a carrier and its
ticketing partner airlines. - SabreSonic Inventory – considered a breakthrough in revenue management
control, leverages open systems architecture to provide 24×7, real-
time transaction processing. The Unix-based system connects directly
to a carrier’s computer reservations system, replacing outdated leg-
and-segment inventory processing with full origin-destination control
with point-of-sale capability. - SabreSonic Web – A complete, fully hosted online booking tool that
enables the airline to most efficiently display and sell — at
anytime, from anywhere — the carrier’s products over the Internet as
well as those of selected travel partners such as other airlines and
car and hotel providers.
Additional components will be added to the modular offering throughout
2004.
Current customers have begun receiving some of the new functionalities via
the Sabre Airline Passenger Solutions’ quarterly product release process.
These enhancements and system updates will continue throughout 2004 and into
2005.
Two significant product enhancements have been rolled out as part of the
Sabre Airline Solutions 1st Quarter 2004 Airline Passenger Solutions product
release. These include the Customer Profile System and Agent Sales Report
offerings.
The new Customer Profile System is the industry’s first true customer
relationship management (CRM) application providing a real-time shared and
continuously updated view on all customer activity as passengers progress
through their journey — and can greatly enhance an airlines customer-centric
approach. The CRM application leverages and enhances the entire SabreSonic
portfolio.
One of the cornerstones of Sabre Airline Solutions’ CRM offerings, the
Customer Profile System creates a single profile for use across the entire
airline’s organization, providing employees the flexibility to access relevant
customer information across all touch points, vastly improving interaction
with their customers before, during, and subsequent to the journey. This data
can also feed planning and analytical systems throughout the organization.
The profile and updated information are available through a Web service,
permitting any application within the airline to access and use the profile
data. This eliminates the need for multiple profile databases enabling easier
integration among systems for consistent information at all customer touch
points. The information is integrated with frequent flyer programs for hosted
carriers. In addition, the type of information that can be entered is now
significantly expanded beyond passenger name record formats and free text.
“Sabre Airline Solutions is investing heavily in new, open systems
infrastructure and associated technologies in order to make the new Customer
Profile System come to life,” Marostica said. “The industry’s vendors have
offered point solutions that represent only parts of a comprehensive CRM
solution. We believe we are the first to provide a complete infrastructure
for true CRM capability, which is key in airlines’ efforts to become more
customer centric. This approach will quickly become an avenue of true
differentiation for our customer carriers, giving them a strong competitive
advantage in today’s and tomorrow’s marketplace.”
Agent Sales Report is a new functionality within SabreSonic Ticket that
provides comprehensive reporting and reconciliation capabilities to enhance
revenue integrity at the airline. It provides the ability to track agent
ticketing activity, including overages and shortages, cash drawer
reconciliation and sales close out. With this tool, agents have the
flexibility to report sales directly from the Agent Sales Report, relaying
this information to revenue accounting and other third-party applications.
The new offering benefits airlines in a number of ways, including:
- Improving data storage and retrieval, storing all ticketed
transactions (both paper and electronic) in a relational database for
several years, - Reducing data processing costs,
- Providing enhanced reporting and simplified reconciliation,
- Improving integration with third-party software applications, and
- Increasing flexibility to customize reporting.
Since 2002, over 30 carriers have chosen Sabre Airline Solutions to manage
their reservations, departure control and inventory functions. These carriers
have benefited from the highest system migration success rate in the industry.
More than 90 carriers worldwide utilize the integrated Sabre Passenger
Solutions System today.
More information on the new generation SabreSonic solution can be found at
http://www.sabresonic.com/ and www.sabreairlinesolutions.com .
About Sabre Airline Solutions
Sabre Airline Solutions, a Sabre Holdings company, is the world’s largest
provider of software products, reservation and departure control systems and
consulting services to help airlines simplify operations and lower costs.
Over 200 airlines worldwide use Sabre Airline Solution’s broad portfolio of
software solutions for decision-support tools to increase revenues and improve
operations. Over 100 airlines worldwide rely on Sabre Airline Solutions for
passenger management solutions, with 15 new carriers added and nine carriers
renewals for SabreSonic Res advanced reservations and departure control
systems in 2003. 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,
Agent Sales Report and Customer Profile System 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.
SOURCE Sabre Airline Solutions
-0- 01/27/2004
/CONTACT: Kathryn Hayden of Sabre Airline Solutions, +1-682-605-2252, or
kathryn.hayden@sabre-holdings.com /
/Web site: http://www.sabre-holdings.com
http://www.sabreairlinesolutions.com
http://www.sabresonic.com /
(TSG)
CO: Sabre Airline Solutions; Sabre Holdings Corporation
ST: Texas
IN: CPR STW TRA LEI AIR
SU: PDT
AH-AP
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2683 01/27/2004 08:04 EST http://www.prnewswire.com