Sabre and Finnair Announce New Distribution Agreement

On Monday, Sabre and Finnair announced a new distribution agreement that will guarantee Finnair content on the GDS for the foreseeable future.

While the exact terms of the agreement were not announced, Sabre, in a message to its partners on Monday, said that the deal guarantees “access to Finnair’s breadth of content through the Sabre travel marketplace, including both NDC and EDIFACT offers.”  

The agreement also includes a continued focus on “Finnair’s ambitious distribution strategy focused on driving widespread adoption of NDC.”

Sabre and Finnair had earlier announced in July that the two were aiming to make Finnair’s NDC content available through the Sabre marketplace by the end of 2022. The plan is still for Finnair to phase out EDIFACT content distribution and rely exclusively on NDC by the end of 2025.

The agreement is one of many that Sabre has made with airlines this year to keep content on the GDS. 

Last month, Sabre announced a separate deal with American Airlines that secures American’s NDC content in Sabre starting early next year.

Avianca Group, which includes Avianca Airlines, Avianca Costa Rica, Avianca Ecuador, and TACA International Airlines, recently announced it would be the first Latin American carrier to get its NDC content through Sabre, a significant milestone for the GDS.

Sabre also recently announced a new long-term deal with United Airlines, giving users access to United’s content for the foreseeable future.