June 2, 2018 TnH Global 18

Sabre to offer NDC-enabled solutions in 2018

Travel technology leader will bring to life the promise of NDC through its innovative retailing, distribution and fulfillment solutions.

Demonstrating its full commitment to lead the industry evolution toward next-generation retailing, distribution and fulfillment, Sabre Corporation expects to achieve several critical milestones on its journey to offer NDC-enabled solutions by the end of the year. Intelligent retailing that leverages Sabre’s data, depth and industry leadership will bring value to airlines and agencies, and customers will have the ability to offer personalized shopping experiences similar to world-class retailers in other industries.

“NDC standards introduce tremendous opportunity for Sabre’s business, our customers and the industry overall – to the ultimate benefit of travelers as we model a new and differentiated travel experience,” said Kathy Morgan, Sabre vice president of strategic initiatives. “To bring the promise of NDC to life, our capabilities will go beyond shopping and booking and will integrate with the retailing, distribution and fulfillment systems that support the travel ecosystem.”

Morgan leads Sabre’s company-wide effort to invest Beyond NDC across its retailing, distribution and fulfillment solutions. Her team is also looking past the near-term goals of NDC to define the future of intelligent airline retailing in both direct and indirect channels.

Sabre is uniquely positioned to deliver technology that shapes a traveler’s end-to-end journey from offer creation through fulfillment. In 2018, Sabre plans to launch new service-enabled APIs and enhanced capabilities in the Sabre Red Workspace that will allow customers to shop and book NDC content alongside traditional content. To prepare for this functionality, the company is already working closely with customers including Flight Centre Travel Group, one of the world’s largest travel agency groups, and Sabre expects to begin a pilot program with additional agency and airline customers in the third quarter this year.

As one of the few companies best positioned to deliver an end-to-end NDC solution, Sabre’s “Beyond NDC” initiative extends far beyond the upcoming introduction of its API. In the fourth quarter Sabre will bring to market the industry’s first Digital Airline Commercial Platform, marking a major advancement in the capabilities airlines will have to seamlessly leverage data-driven insights to dynamically and intelligently market their services, fulfill across all channels, and deliver a personalized customer experience. More advanced capabilities will follow in 2019, including NDC-enabled offer and order management, giving its airline customers a competitive edge to truly differentiate their offerings.

“We’re currently in discussions with a number of airline and agency customers on an NDC-enabled pilot program,” said Morgan. “The goal is to collaborate with strategic pilot partners on development and integration with our solutions, testing our end-to-end capabilities to process NDC-enabled offers.”

In October last year, CEO Sean Menke publicly outlined Sabre’s position on NDC and the company’s drive to lead an industry evolution. Since then, Sabre achieved NDC Level 3 capability as an I.T. provider in February 2018 and has committed to Level 3 certification as an aggregator in 2018, in order to complement its current airline I.T. capabilities.

“NDC-enabled technology represents a monumental step forward for the travel industry as we modernize retailing and distribution solutions to meet evolving customer expectations,” said Morgan. “The NDC standards are a promising start, but Sabre will innovate beyond NDC to make the promise a reality.”