AirTran Airways last week began displaying seat maps through Sabre's Extensible Markup Language interface, and plans to add additional booking options through the global distribution system early next year.
Sabre vice president of product marketing Kyle Moore said the XML interface allows the GDS to display travel content not generally enabled through traditional legacy systems. Through XML, Sabre can tap into airlines' Web-based reservations systems and display and sell air content in a manner closer to how airlines sell and distribute through their Web sites, Moore said.
Though Sabre has been using XML "for years now" to link with other travel suppliers, including Expedia and hotel companies, Moore said AirTran is the first major airline to adopt the link.
"XML is far more flexible than technologies that we and travel suppliers have used in the past," according to Moore. "It allows us to do things that we previously were not able to do." Among those, Moore said that carriers can use an XML connection to sell ancillary services, unbundle fare options and—like AirTran—show seat maps and more detailed flight information through the global distribution system.
"As carriers introduce new things, they're generally not building them in legacy technologies," Moore said. "This is a platform that can support traditional types of transactions using new technology or nontraditional types of transactions in environments in which they may want them to work."
AirTran early next year will launch additional booking features through Sabre's XML link, according to Moore, who said that other airlines also are in discussions to hook up through XML.
However, not all airlines are sold on the option. Though Air Canada has launched a slew of Web-only products—and has engaged in several direct-connection deals that have brought them to a corporate audience—an Air Canada spokesperson last week said Sabre's XML offering does not appear to be the right link for the carrier to connect with Sabre.
Last year, Air Canada unbundled ticketing options to allow customers to include or decline such services as checked baggage or meals in the price of the ticket. The carrier last year also launched its Corporate Flight Pass—which enables companies to buy prepaid flight segments for redemption in various geographical zones—as its preferred way to deliver corporate fares to clients
(BTN, Oct. 23, 2006). Some travel buyers, however, griped that the GDS took a back seat to the Air Canada Web site, prompting agencies and technology companies to seek workarounds through direct connects.
Moore said that XML could enable Sabre to sell such Air Canada content, claiming, "We certainly believe that we have the right architecture to help us sell Air Canada's products and services in a way that they would like them sold. My belief is that this is another example to allow Sabre to sell the products and services of any airline in the manner they want them sold."
However, Air Canada countered Moore's outlook in an e-mail to BTN. "As you're aware, Air Canada's requirements are much more sophisticated and involve functions that are not supported by EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce, and Transport), nor the described XML link. For example, to properly merchandise Air Canada's branded fare attributes, Air Canada requires merchandising upsell and downsell attributes, as well as to support our multi-trip subscription Flight Passes. So it appears this news doesn't really change anything for us, although it may be good for other carriers like AirTran."
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