Sabre saw promising improvement in bookings accelerated during the quarter despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company posted a revenue figure of $420 million for the three-month period April to June 2021 and $747 million for the first six months of the year.
The figures however, are far from the pre-pandemic revenues levels, which was $1 billion, in the second quarter of 2019. Sabre’s net air bookings, which factor in the impact of cancellations, declined 65 per cent, 62 per cent and 49 per cent in April, May and June, respectively, compared with the same period in 2019. However, bookings plummeted in the month of July as news of the Covid-19 delta variant spread resulted in a dip. The net air bookings for July were down 61 percent from July 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at a loss of $70 million after an improvement on the $229 million loss in the corresponding quarter on 2020.
Sabre’s travel solutions division found itself with a 564per cent increase in revenue from a lockdown-hit $56 million in Q2 2020 to $373 million between April and June this year.
Within that unit, distribution (GDS) revenues were $218 million and IT (hosting etc.) were $155 million, increases year-over-year from $48 million and $51 million respectively. Bookings through the GDS were at 57 million in Q2 2021, down by 60 per cent on the same period in 2019.
The hospitality sector fared comparatively better in Sabre’s recovery, as hotel central reservations system transactions handled by Sabre were down only 22 percent in July from the same month in 2019.
“The strongest recovery remains in US domestic leisure bookings. Since North America is our largest region, our bookings recovery outpaced the overall GDS industry. We continue to believe there is pent up demand for travel and that recovery will accelerate,” said Sean Menke, President and CEO.
“In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are gaining commercial momentum. We announced important SabreSonic PSS wins that represent nearly 40 million annual passengers boarded, based on 2019 levels.
We believe these are important proof points that our technology solutions and strategy are resonating with customers. As we continue our technology transformation and strategic partnership with Google, and as the travel environment improves, we believe Sabre is well positioned,” he added.
SabreSonic is the first passenger management solution built on open systems architecture for critical airline operations such as pricing and shopping for airline travel, ticketing and day-of-travel operations. It allows airlines to more quickly adapt to evolving or new business models compared to any offering in the market. It also delivers an enhanced customer-centric approach that provides more options for travelers and the assurance of best value.
