Sabre reported a slight increase in air distribution bookings in the second quarter, beating its earlier expectations, and executives said "resilient" corporate travel demand was a key reason for that growth.
Air bookings in the second quarter increased 1 percent year over year to 76.1 million, while lodging and other bookings increased 5 percent year over year to 15.5 million, combining for a 1 percent year-over-year increase in total bookings for the quarter, according to Sabre. In the previous quarter, Sabre projected air distribution growth would be flat in the second quarter, and president and CEO Kurt Ekert in an earnings call said a "modest recovery" in June made second-quarter air booking trends "better than expected."
Corporate booking volumes showed "continued steady performance and resilience" during the quarter, he said.
That "has certainly buoyed our performance, because we have about 45 percent of our distribution volumes coming from corporate or [travel management company]," he said. "Corporate is relatively outperforming leisure, which is a nice reversal on what we experienced last year."
Ekert added that air distribution bookings in North and South America stayed in growth territory throughout the quarter, though high fuel prices and the Middle East conflict continued to have a negative impact on growth, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company projects air distribution bookings will be flat or up in low-single-digit percentages in the third quarter, followed by growth in the low- to mid-single digits in the fourth quarter.
Sabre's marketplace revenue increased 6 percent year over year in the second quarter to $576.8 million, which the company said was driven by the bookings growth and booking fees. Airline technology revenue was down 4 percent year over year to $135 million, which Ekert said was the effect of less license fee revenue and other "performance deliverables" scheduled in the quarter.
Total revenue for the quarter increased 4 percent year over year to $712 million.
In the earnings call, Ekert also said New Distribution Capability bookings are "growing very steadily," now representing about 5 percent of Sabre's total distribution volumes. The growth is coming from a combination of NDC adoption by existing clientele as well as "NDC reintermediation," where previously direct-connected NDC volumes are now coming through Sabre, he said.
Sabre reported a net loss of $36.2 million for the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $256.4 million in the second quarter of 2025.
RELATED: Sabre Q1 performance