Sabre's air distribution bookings in the third quarter increased year over year but at the low end of prior guidance due to what Sabre executives during a Wednesday earnings call described as slower U.S. government and corporate demand.
Third-quarter air distribution bookings increased 2 percent year over year, at the bottom of the range of 2 percent to 6 percent Sabre offered one quarter prior. Sabre CEO Kurt Ekert pointed to softness in government demand as well as corporate bookings through travel management companies.
"No. 1, we are adversely impacted as compared to the industry by our exposure to both the U.S. military and government," Ekert said Wednesday. "And two is a vast majority of corporate and TMC business globally goes through Sabre. And that was still down several percent year over year in the quarter."
Air bookings through Sabre's global distribution system in July and August were "relatively flat" year over year, Ekert said, but increased 7 percent in September.
The softness in government demand continued after the U.S. government shut down on Oct. 1, Ekert said, a move that has "impacted October air distribution bookings by approximately 3 percentage points."
As such, he said, Sabre now projects fourth-quarter air distribution growth of 6 percent to 8 percent year over year, a figure down from the company's prior-quarter projection of 6 percent to 14 percent growth. After Q1, Sabre had projected double-digit percentage growth.
Nevertheless, Ekert said overall trends should suggest optimism and projected year-over-year mid-single-digit air bookings growth in 2026.
"The commentary around the broader travel industry is encouraging and could signal a normalization of trends going forward," he said. "We continue to believe the challenges we have navigated during 2025 are largely transitory and as volumes from our growth strategies accelerate through the end of the year, we are well positioned for growth."
Sabre Q3 Metrics
Sabre's third-quarter air distribution bookings increased 2 percent year over year to 80.5 million. Lodging, ground and sea bookings increased 3 percent to 14.6 million, and total bookings also increased 3 percent.
Total Q3 revenue increased 3 percent year over year to $715 million. Distribution revenue increased 4 percent to $575 million, while IT solutions revenue held about steady at about $140 million.
Sabre's third-quarter net income from continuing operations was more than $48 million, compared with a loss of $62 million one year prior. (Sabre's total Q3 net income was $849 million, a figure that includes the sale of its Hospitality Solutions business to private equity and investment firm TPG.)
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