SABRE Corporation has enlisted several new partners in its “Beyond NDC” program, which involves collaboration to develop new solutions, leverage beta testing capabilities and establish a “global leadership position as drivers of NDC”. Travel agency participants now include Australia’s Corporate Travel Management as well as BCD Travel, while Finnair, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines are also working closely with Sabre under the scheme.
The move comes as IATA’s New Distribution Capability comes closer to reality, with some providers expecting to launch solutions by late this year or early in 2019. Sabre has also been certified by the International Air Transport Association as a “Level 3 aggregator,” building on its previously announced NDC Level 3 capability as an IT provider. The Beyond NDC program aims to drive the industry forward through the development, integration and testing of end-to-end capabilities to process NDC-enabled offers and orders.
Sabre vice president of NDC, Kathy Morgan, said while the certification was a strong achievement, “the real work is being done in close collaboration with our airline and agency partners. Together we will demonstrate a genuine capability to deliver end-to-end solutions at scale”.
