Abacus Dumps Worldspan, Partners With Sabre

<B> Abacus Dumps Worldspan, Partners With Sabre</B>

By Cheryl Rosen

<I>Atlanta</I> - March certainly came in like a lion for Asian travel agents, where Abacus, the region's largest computer reservations system, switched a million PNRs and 7,000 travel agency locations from Worldspan to Sabre--a process that normally would take months to accomplish--in the single weekend of March 1.

As Abacus and Sabre announced a new joint venture for the Asian market, the three CRSs exchanged acrimonious words in a Georgia court--where Worldspan accused Abacus of ditching their 10-year partnership and taking intimate details of Worldspan's business to Sabre. Whatever the cost to Sabre in the end, its alliance with Abacus surely will jump-start its Asia-Pacific product and serve as a calling card for other Sabre services, like Business Travel Solutions and consulting services, to new customers in the region.

In the end, the Georgia judge denied Worldspan's attempt to stop Sabre from converting the 17,000 Abacus terminals from the Worldspan to the Sabre system, though the suit itself (<I>BTN</I>, Jan. 26) is far from over. Citing the "very substantial adverse effect upon travel agents and the traveling public" that stopping the conversion at this point would have, the court declined to issue an injunction. But it also noted that "without question Sabre largely utilized, with great secrecy, confidential information" about Worldspan provided by its erstwhile Asian roommate.

Abacus claims to be the leading CRS in the Asia-Pacific region, with 90 percent market share in most of its 16 markets. It officially quit a ten-year partnership with Worldspan to form a joint venture with Sabre, the CRS owned by AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines. The new entity will be 65 percent owned by existing Abacus shareholders and 35 percent by The Sabre Group.

Abacus is owned by All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, China, EVA, Garuda, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, Malaysia, Philippine, Royal Brunei, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines. Worldspan also holds a small share.

Sabre will contribute $139 million in cash and "transfer $100 million in assets in the region" to the joint venture, in return for "a potential market of 35,000 travel agents in the region," said Sabre Travel Information Network president Eric Speck at a press conference. For the conversion alone, Sabre put "40 staffers on the ground in Southeast Asia to man the help desk and assist in training," and moved 1.2 million active passenger records in two days.

The joint venture will add Sabre's base of 2,500 travel agency locations to Abacus' 7,300. While Abacus consistently has declined to disclose the number of segments it books annually, Speck said it has more than 90 percent market share in the home countries of its airline owners, and generates 50 million passenger enplanements a year in Asia.

In addition to giving Asian agencies "full access to all our products and technology," the joint venture also will give Sabre's Business Travel Solutions a toehold in Asia, Speck said. Sabre and Abacus are "working out the details," and a pilot test of BTS will begin soon in Australia.

Abacus president and CEO William Liu said the joint venture "positions Abacus on the cutting edge of technology," and will allow both partners to deliver more flexibility and better quality of information, products and services to Asian agencies.

For Sabre, meanwhile, the alliance "opens the door of opportunity for travelers, travel agencies and travel suppliers using the Sabre system to offer expanded content, including more hotel options, tour possibilities and additional car rental companies" in the Asia-Pacific region, Speck said.

At competitor System One Amadeus, meanwhile, Asia-Pacific region director David Brett said he "certainly will see some business coming to us" from Asian customers fed up with both Sabre and Worldspan over the legal wrangling and hasty cross-over. "To have one system swapped for another with so little preparation is something not nice to have happen to you," he said.

While Sabre is positioning its partnership as a coup, Brett said he "sees it as Sabre's withdrawal from the region, and their recognition that they have been unable to penetrate the market on their own. Where before our competitors in Asia were Abacus, Galileo and Sabre, now we have only Abacus and Galileo."

System One Amadeus in June or July will be starting a Japanese operation of its own with a big local partner Brett declined to yet name, though it will be "one that adds value in complementary technology and know-how," he said.