Sabre Expands ‘Beyond NDC’ Program

United Airlines is among the travel companies that have joined Sabre’s “Beyond NDC” program.

Sabre Corporation has expanded its Beyond NDC program by entering into strategic relationships with additional airlines and agencies.

Beyond NDC is Sabre’s collaborative innovation initiative chartered to drive the industry forward through the development, integration and testing of end-to-end capabilities to process NDC-enabled offers and orders.

Companies committed to the program are participating with Sabre in the solution design process, leveraging beta testing capabilities and establishing their global leadership position as drivers of NDC.

New travel companies to Sabre’s list of partners include United Airlines, BCD Travel, Finnair, American Express Travel & Lifestyle Services, Singapore Airlines and Corporate Travel Management.

Sabre achieves IATA Level 3 NDC certification

Sabre has also been designated NDC-Certified Level 3 as an aggregator by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which launched the New Distribution Capability (NDC) data transmission standard. The new certification is in addition to Sabre’s previously announced NDC Level 3 capability as an I.T. provider.

“IATA Level 3 certification is another key step in developing holistic NDC-enabled solutions and we’re proud of this achievement, but the real work is being done in close collaboration with our airline and agency partners,” said Kathy Morgan, Sabre vice president of NDC. “Together we will demonstrate a genuine capability to deliver end-to-end solutions at scale.”

According to Sabre, collaboration is already underway as nearly 80 percent of all air shopping in the Sabre Red Workspace travel agency platform, starts with schedule and availability queries.

United Airlines and Sabre presented schedule- and availability-led shopping solutions to attendees of IATA’s NDC Implementation Forum earlier this month.

“The Beyond NDC program uniquely positions United and Sabre to deliver a win-win-win for the travel ecosystem,” said Tye Radcliffe, United’s director of Distribution. “Our agency-friendly approach to shopping is just one example of the work being done as we build upon the NDC standard and develop technology that shapes a traveler’s end-to-end journey from offer creation through fulfillment.”