Air distribution bookings in Sabre declined slightly year on year during the third quarter, though executives said corporate travel demand was "resilient" during the quarter.
Sabre's air bookings totalled 79.4 million in the quarter, down 1 per cent compared with the third quarter of 2025. In an earnings call on Thursday (7 November), Sabre president and CEO Kurt Ekert said the decline stemmed largely from softer leisure travel volumes in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia/Pacific regions amid the Middle East conflict and higher fuel costs.
Corporate bookings and overall bookings in the Americas were solid in the quarter, he said.
"What you've seen to date through Q3 and what we've seen in terms of trading results early in Q4 is that corporate demand is very strong," Ekert said. "Despite some of the price increases, we've seen volume increases, and the airlines and hoteliers report significant increases in their gross booking return over value."
Sabre's bookings for lodging and other non-air suppliers increased 8 per cent year on year to 15.7 million during the quarter, with growth across both hotel and rail bookings, according to Ekert.
Hotel attachment rates have grown to higher than 35 per cent at Sabre, and the company sees "a meaningful opportunity to increase this metric," he said. With that growth, total marketplace bookings were flat year on year in the third quarter, and Ekert said without the headwinds from the leisure travel decline, growth would have been in the mid-single-digit percentage range.
Ekert added that New Distribution Capability bookings "continue to grow" and represented 5 per cent of total air marketplace bookings during the quarter.
Even with flat marketplace bookings, marketplace revenue for the quarter increased 3 per cent year on year to $594 million, which CFO Mike Randolfi said came from a 3 per cent year-on-year increase in the average booking fee.
Airline technology revenue also increased 3 per cent year on year to $144.5 million in the quarter, combining for total revenue of $738.4 million in the third quarter, up 3 per cent year on year.
Sabre reported a net loss of $25.1 million for the quarter, compared with a net income of $848.7 million in the third quarter of 2025 – a figure that included the $1.1 billion sale of its Hospitality Solutions business last year.