SABRE TRAVEL NETWORK and British Airways (BA) have extended their global distribution agreement by three years.
Under the agreement, Sabre will continue to provide access to BA's full content and inventory via its global distribution system (GDS), until 2013. BA also hopes to increase sales of ancillary services, such as excess baggage and car hire, to corporations and agencies through the GDS.
BA said: "Corporations and agencies will be able to complete the sale using a new functionality based on industry technology standards known as Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD). This new solution has been adopted by the travel industry to allow agents to sell, report on and accept payments for ancillary products. It ensures that travellers are clear about their options, and integrates into an agency's existing back-office system. EMD is compatible with global financial settlement organisations Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP)."
BA also extended its full content agreement with Travelport in November and Amadeus in December last year, both by three years.