Air Canada to Launch NDC Content on Sabre ‘In Coming Months’

Sabre Corp. on Tuesday announced that it had signed a multi-year distribution agreement with Air Canada that will give users long-term access to the carrier’s full content.

According to the announcement on Tuesday, the agreement will, in particular, give Sabre users access to a full range of NDC-sourced Air Canada content, which is expected to come “in the coming months.”

To go along with that, Air Canada said that once the NDC content is live, the previously announced Distribution Cost Recovery charge will be waived for connected agencies.  Air Canada previously announced that it would charge a per-ticket fee of somewhere between US$20 to US$30 on bookings made through traditional EDIFACT channels starting on June 14.

“We’re proud to be taking this next step with Sabre, providing the broadest range of rich Air Canada content, travel options, and services to our customers and agency partners,” said Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital for Air Canada.

“Air Canada recognizes and appreciates Sabre’s progressive approach and the significant technology investments they’re making, which taken together, will deliver meaningful value to all travel industry stakeholders. This new partnership is the result of long-standing discussions, and it marks a significant next step towards delivering on Air Canada’s distribution promise: a smooth transition for agencies and travel buyers—both larger and smaller.”

When Air Canada does roll out the NDC content, it will join a couple of other major North American carriers who have already done so—United Airlines and American Airlines. Both of those carriers went forward with their NDC rollouts despite concerns from the travel industry.