SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 6, 2006–Sabre Travel
Network and Sabre Airline Solutions have issued electronic ticketing
updates for their businesses. Eighty percent of all tickets issued
worldwide through the Sabre global distribution system (GDS) are now
electronic, and 122 airlines offer e-ticketing for Sabre Connected
travel agencies. Meanwhile, 57 airlines are now using the SabreSonic
Ticket Interline Electronic Ticketing Hub (IET Hub) to facilitate
e-ticketing with partner carriers.
IATA’s “Simplifying the Business” strategy calls for 100 percent
e-ticketing by the end of 2007. Collectively, Sabre Travel Network
airline customers broke through the 80 percent barrier in March,
meaning that now only one in five tickets issued through the Sabre GDS
is paper.
South African Airways, PIA, Gulf Air, Air Malta, Cyprus Airways,
Malev Hungarian Airlines, Air Europa, Portugalia and SpanAir have
become the latest carriers to implement e-ticketing through the Sabre
GDS. Sabre Travel Network has now released e-ticketing in 72
countries, including 29 in the EMEA area. Cyprus, Bahrain, Oman,
Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt are the latest
additions.
“The travel agents I’ve spoken to are completely supportive of the
full adoption of e-ticketing,” said Dean Bibb, Sabre Travel Network
European vice-president of supplier relations and joint ventures.
“Part of the reason we’ve broken through the 80 percent barrier is
because our agency customers have seized on the e-ticketing capability
of every new airline we’ve implemented.”
Sabre Airline Solutions has an e-ticketing enabling product for
airlines called SabreSonic Ticket. This is part of the “new
generation” SabreSonic Passenger Solutions and is based on open
technology that allows communication with any airline’s own IT system.
It lets an airline distribute electronic tickets both through its own
sales channels and through travel agencies, check in passengers with
electronic tickets and issue interline electronic tickets (IETs).
Sabre Airline Solutions now has 57 airlines connected to its IET
Hub allowing each to issue e-tickets in conjunction with other
participating carriers without having to create bilateral agreements
and a special connection. IET Hub-connected carriers include British
Airways, KLM, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, American Airlines, United, US
Airways and Northwest Airlines.
Any airline can use the IET Hub, regardless of where its
reservation system is hosted. The business also recently announced a
technical development with Worldspan, giving carriers who use the IET
Hub a single connection to those who use the Worldspan hub. This
arrangement eliminates the need for complex, distinct communication
layers between airlines that use the two hubs.
Sabre Airline Solutions currently hosts the reservations systems
of over 100 airlines around the world, including Aerolineas
Argentinas, Aeroflot, American Airlines, Gulf Air, Jet Airways,
Pakistan International Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Nearly 50
carriers are using SabreSonic Ticket to issue e-tickets through their
own sales channels. Nearly 40 are using the product to issue e-tickets
through the travel agency channel, via GDSs.
“It’s highly unlikely that the IATA 2007 deadline for the complete
withdrawal of paper ticketing will be met entirely,” said Nejib
Ben-Khedher, president and managing partner of the aviation consulting
practice at Sabre Airline Solutions. “However, the figures we are
releasing today show an unstoppable momentum and indicate that
carriers that sell most of the world’s airline tickets will be
compliant by the due date.”
Ben-Khedher said the technology was available to help carriers of
any size switch to e-ticketing quickly and relatively inexpensively.
“It’s not a huge exercise – developments such as SabreSonic Ticket
have smoothed the process significantly and will take care of the
e-ticketing needs of any carrier, regardless of size and where the
airline’s reservations system is actually hosted.”
About Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions
Sabre Travel Network, a Sabre Holdings company, provides access to
the world’s leading global distribution system (GDS). The Sabre GDS is
a ready-built efficient marketplace that connects suppliers, including
hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels, with more than 50,000
travel agency locations. Suppliers get access through one single
connection; travel agents get real time access to thousands of travel
products from multiple suppliers through one source integrated into
their businesses; consumers get access to a global supermarket of the
world’s greatest travel possibilities.
Key brands of Sabre Travel Network include GetThere, the leading
Web-based corporate travel reservation technology, and Jurni Network,
the unique leisure travel agency consortium in the United States that
enables members to sell more products from preferred travel suppliers
using sophisticated market intelligence.
Sabre Airline Solutions, a Sabre Holdings company, is the world’s
largest provider of products to help airlines market, sell, serve and
operate from planning to execution.
More than 200 airlines use its broad portfolio of decision-support
tools to increase revenues and improve operations, while more than 500
use its leading operational technology. More than 100 airlines rely on
Sabre Airline Solutions for passenger management solutions, while a
similar number have turned to the company’s consulting group for
strategic, commercial and operational advice.
Sabre Airline Solutions, the Sabre Airline Solutions logo,
SabreSonic and Sabre Travel Network are trademarks and/or service
marks of an affiliate of Sabre Holdings Corp. All other trademarks,
service marks and trade names are the property of their respective
owners. (C) 2005 Sabre Inc. All rights reserved.
Sabre Holdings (NYSE:TSG) connects people with the world’s
greatest travel possibilities by 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.
CONTACT: Sabre Airline Solutions, Southlake
Media Contact:
Rebecca Hauger, 682-605-4098
rebecca.hauger@sabre-holdings.com
SOURCE: Sabre Airline Solutions