Travel technology provider Sabre Corporation has been recognised as a system provider for both airlines and travel sellers in IATA’s new Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index.
The airline association has introduced the ARM index as a replacement for its previous NDC and One Order certifications. The index measures progress made by companies in areas such as shopping, ordering, paying and settling of airline bookings, as well as the scalability of NDC-enabled offers and fares.
Kathy Morgan, vice president, channel delivery, at Sabre Travel Solutions, said: “We are very proud of Sabre’s inclusion in the ARM index and we wholeheartedly welcome IATA’s move toward a more layered and multi-faceted view of airline retailing.
“We’ve approached NDC as a technical basis to deliver a more personalised traveller experience. We named our programme Beyond NDC to signal a focus not only on ticking boxes on a technical capability checklist, but also on a longer-term retailing vision and the value that NDC contributes.”
Sabre said it was in discussions with more than 25 airlines about selling NDC offers through its platform, including Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Lufthansa Group and Qatar Airways.
The technology firm added that NDC-enabled offers from these airlines will be available in the “coming months” through Sabre’s Offer and Order APIs, Sabre Red 360 and the online booking tool GetThere.
Yanik Hoyles, IATA’s director of distribution, added: “Airline retailing means placing the customer at the centre of the air travel shop, order, pay ecosystem. We are excited to see Sabre’s strong alignment with this vision as a recognised system provider in the ARM index.”