Ethiopian Airlines renews technology contract with Sabre Corporation

Sept 1, 2017: Leading African airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, has renewed its passenger reservations system with global travel technology provider, Sabre Corporation. The airline also signed up for a suite of new technology solutions to support its continued growth as a world-class carrier.

Ethiopian Airlines has been using Sabre’s technology for its core reservations, network planning and e-commerce since 2005. Despite the daunting challenges in African aviation, Ethiopian Airlines has continued with thriving successes and has become the leading Aviation group in Africa, nine years ahead of its 15 years strategic growth roadmap, Vision 2025.

Ethiopian Group CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam, said, “Our focus towards availing the latest Information Technology and travel system solution is one of the pillars of our long term growth plan, Vision 2025. Consequently, we have made huge investments in Information Technology to create a seamless passenger experience. Moreover, Sabre’s technology partnership and expertise has been invaluable, which is now further flourishing with cutting-edge technology that helps us ensure better customer experience and remain to be an airline of choice among travellers around the world.”

“Ethiopian Airlines is one of the aviation’s most compelling success stories, having overcome industry challenges to drive rapid and sustained growth on a continent where profitability in aviation is extremely rare. For more than a decade, Sabre’s technology has been helping Ethiopian Airlines maximise profits and offer a network of flights more extensive than any other African airline. As a result, it is now spearheading the African aviation industry and is a benchmark of success for other carriers on the continent and beyond,” said Dino Gelmetti, vice president, Airline Solutions, Sabre.

The next phase of development for Ethiopian Airlines is in enhancing its passenger experience. Among the new technology that Ethiopian Airlines will introduce is Sabre’s Intelligence Exchange. Airlines currently sit on a goldmine of data, yet only use 12 percent of it to engage with passengers; Intelligence Exchange enables airlines to turn that remaining 88 percent of data into actionable insights. Armed with a 360-degree view of each passenger, airlines can then offer individual travellers services that are uniquely relevant to them – increasing sales of ancillaries.

“80 percent of flights to, from and within Africa are operated by non-African airlines. This move helps Ethiopian to better focus on understanding the individual needs of its passengers while remaining to be an airline of choice among travellers. By implementing new customer-centric technology that can enhance the travel experience through contextual engagement, Ethiopian Airlines can win passengers from its rivals while experiencing up to a 10% increase in revenue generated from ancillary sales,” continued Gelmetti.

More than 225 airlines currently use Sabre’s technology to decrease operational costs, increase profit and transform the way they serve travellers – including many of the world’s largest carriers.