Air bookings through Sabre’s global distribution system slowed in the fourth quarter of 2023 due in part to a slowdown in corporate travel, though executives said that slowing trend has reversed in the first weeks of 2024.
Sabre’s GDS air bookings through totaled 65.3 million, up 1 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. By comparison, third-quarter air bookings were up 11 percent year over year.
Sabre’s share of industry air bookings also was down slightly compared with the fourth quarter, at 33.2 percent compared with 34.1 percent in the third quarter. In an earnings call, Sabre CEO Kurt Ekert said the drop came largely from a “temporary slowdown in corporate travel” in the quarter combined with the usual seasonal corporate slowdown.
“Corporate travel comprises a larger proportion of our client footprint and bookings relative to the GDS industry,” Ekert said. “We have seen a rebound of corporate bookings and resultant strong GDS marketshare performance trends as we start 2024.”
Sabre’s air booking share for the fourth quarter was up 0.2 percentage points year over year, and for the full year, Sabre’s share was 33.8 percent, up from 32.6 percent in 2022.
Besides a corporate travel rebound, Ekert said he was optimistic about other growth opportunities, including the continued return of longer-haul international capacity, which has been slower to recover post-pandemic comparted with short-haul international and domestic capacity. Ekert said that there has been a post-pandemic increase in airline direct-connect bookings with online travel agencies that “might be characterized as [New Distribution Capability],” which has had a “negative volume impact” for Sabre. He added, though, that there could be an opportunity to recapture that “as OTAs are seeking our help with automation, shopping and caching solutions to deal with their content, retailing and operational needs.”
NDC currently represents only about 1 percent of total volume from travel management companies and brick-and-mortar agencies, and those volumes are “flowing almost entirely through Sabre and other GDSs,” he said.
Ekert added that low-cost carriers are “a largely untapped opportunity for Sabre” in growing volume and share.
Non-air bookings through Sabre’s GDS in the fourth quarter grew 14 percent year over year to 12.9 million. Total Travel Solutions revenue was up 8 percent year over year to $621.9 million in the quarter, and Sabre’s average booking fee for the quarter was $6.09, up 11 percent year over year.
Sabre reported a net loss of $96.4 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $165.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. For full-year 2023, Sabre’s net loss was $541.9 million, deepening from 2022’s net loss of $456.8 million. The bigger loss stemmed from an increase of $153 million in interest expenses as well as the $112 million gain in 2022 from Sabre’s sale of AirCentre.
