Sabre (SABR) & Air India Extend Deal in Indian Domestic Market
Sabre Corporation SABR and Air India recently strengthened the partnership through an extended distribution agreement, which is based on their initial collaboration announced in April 2023.
Under the original April 2023 arrangement, the two companies established a fresh deal for the distribution of Air India's content to global travel buyers through Sabre Marketplace. The initial pact provided the opening of Air India's domestic and international flight options to travel agencies operating outside of India. It also enabled India’s domestic travel agencies to access international plans and fares.
The recently extended plan will now allow India’s domestic travel agencies to access the airline's domestic content through the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS) from Jan 1, 2024.
Sabre Corporation Price and Consensus
Sabre Corporation price-consensus-chart | Sabre Corporation Quote
The fresh agreement, in addition to broadening the range of available fares and seats, will also strengthen Air India's future capacity to globally distribute New Distribution Capability (NDC) content through SABR's travel marketplace.
This strengthened partnership represents a significant growth opportunity for Sabre in the rapidly expanding Indian travel industry. Per a Statista report, Air India secured the third spot in the Indian domestic market for fiscal 2022, accounting for 9.7% of the total passengers transported, closely trailing behind Indigo and Spicejet. Once the ongoing merger between Vistara and Air India is finalized, the latter will claim the position of the second-largest fleet owner following IndiGo.
Sabre Benefits From Its Increasing Partnerships
For Sabre, this extended partnership with Air India will strengthen its portfolio, which also includes SABR’s collaboration with other airlines worldwide to offer the NDC content in the market. This list of airlines includes LATAM, Aeromexico, Scandinavian Airlines, Finnair, United Airlines UAL and American Airlines AAL. All of these companies have partnered or renewed the partnership with Sabre in 2023.
In March 2023, the company announced that Sabre-connected travel buyers, agencies and developer partners will be able to access American Airlines’ NDC content through Sabre Red 360, Sabre APIs and GetThere. The new partnership allowed travel buyers on Sabre’s GDS to access AAL’s offers, including Main Select and Flagship Business Plus fares.
In April 2023, United Airlines introduced its NDC offers in Sabre’s GDS. This enabled travel buyers to access enhanced options, including UAL's continuous pricing content, featuring the most competitive fares available through Sabre Red 360, Sabre APIs and GetThere.
SABR has reported that in second-quarter 2023, shares of its Global Distribution System industry volumes have improved in comparison to the second quarter of 2022 as well as 2019, which is the year before the pandemic-led lockdowns disrupted the entire global travel and hospitality business. The Travel Solution revenues increased to $670.8 million in second-quarter 2023 compared with $599.1 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting year-over-year growth of 12%.
Zacks Rank
Currently, Sabre sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while American Airlines and United Airlines carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. Shares of SABR, AAL and UAL have declined 44.2%, 12.1 and 7.7%, respectively, in the year-to-date period.
Another Stock to Consider
Another top-ranked stock from the broader technology sector worth considering is NVIDIA NVDA, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVIDIA's third-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings has been revised upward by 2 cents to $3.34 per share in the past 30 days. For fiscal 2024, earnings estimates have increased by 7 cents to $10.74 per share in the past 30 days.
NVIDIA’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the preceding four quarters while missing on one occasion, the average surprise being 9.8%. Shares of NVDA have rallied 181.7% year to date.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Sabre Corporation (SABR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
