New agreement gives agencies full content certainty
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, April 2010 – Sabre Travel Network, the world’s leading provider of high performance solutions for the travel industry, and British Airways, the UK’s leading international airline, have signed a new three-year global distribution agreement, providing agencies and corporations around the world with continued access to the airline’s full content and inventory via the Sabre global distribution system (GDS).
Through this new agreement, Sabre-Connected agencies will continue to access all of British Airways’ published fares and inventory including those sold through other direct and indirect channels. The opt-in levels previously established by Sabre for the UK and Ireland remain unchanged.
John Mornement, Head of Selling and Distribution for British Airways, said: “Sabre is an important partner for British Airways and we’re delighted that we’ve reached a global agreement for their agents, which allows them to continue to access all our published fares and inventory. We are pleased to be working with the team at Sabre to enhance how we sell British Airways through their GDS, both to demonstrate the value of flying with us and to increase the opportunities for selling ancillary services.”
British Airways will work with Sabre to introduce the sale of these ancillary travel products through the GDS. Corporations and agencies will be able to complete the sale using a new functionality based on industry technology standards known as Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD). This new solution has been adopted by the travel industry to allow agents to sell, report on and accept payments for ancillary products. It ensures that travelers are clear about their options, and integrates into an agency’s existing back-office system. EMD is compatible withglobal financial settlement organizations Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP).
“Our new agreement with British Airways meets the evolving needs of our agency customers,” said Martin Cowley, Senior Vice President for Sabre Travel Network, Europe, Middle East andAfrica. “Agents can be assured of receiving full content and inventory via our GDS, as well as our commitment to work with them on an easy way to pay for and settle new ancillary services. Supporting airline merchandising strategies and making these available in the GDS channel has always been a focus for Sabre, as seen by our track record of delivering merchandising capabilities for a number of carriers including United Airlines, Qantas and WestJet,” he said.
Earlier this year, Sabre became the first company to win an ‘Innovation Award’ for its leadership in merchandising, awarded at London’s Business Travel Show.
The new distribution agreement between Sabre and British Airways took effect from 1 April 2010.
