Travel Agents Gain Control over Flight Carbon Emissions through Google-Sabre Partnership
Sabre's Partnership with Google Empowers Travel Agents with Flight Carbon Emissions Data
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Sabre, a leading technology provider for the travel industry, has joined forces with Google to offer travel agents using Sabre's desktop software access to carbon emissions data when searching for flights. Later this year, corporations utilizing Sabre's booking tool, GetThere, will also gain access to this valuable information.
Through their partnership, Sabre and Google aim to equip environmentally conscious travelers with insights into the environmental impact of their flights. By utilizing the Google Travel Impact Model, the data provided can estimate the carbon emissions of specific flights and compare them to the average emissions on the same route. For instance, it may reveal that an evening Virgin Atlantic flight from JFK to London Heathrow has 29% lower carbon emissions compared to the route's average.
Kristin Hays, Sabre's corporate responsibility officer, expressed the significance of integrating emissions data into the travel industry, stating, "As a technology company at the core of the travel ecosystem, we believe we can play an important role in identifying emissions data to help travelers make more informed decisions when booking travel."
While offline travel agents have already gained access to this carbon emissions data, Sabre's online travel agency customers are currently not included. Sabre provides back-end technology to online travel agencies through APIs, and the integration of carbon emission data is still under consideration.
The collaboration with Google stems from the search engine giant's participation in the Travalyst coalition, founded by Prince Harry. Sabre is the first non-coalition member to access the coalition's travel impact model, thanks to its partnership with Google.
Sabre manages approximately $260 billion worth of travel spend annually and provides technology infrastructure globally. This initiative between Sabre and Google has the potential to make a significant impact in the travel industry's sustainability efforts.
It is important to note that while the carbon emissions data provided by Google offers valuable insights, it does not account for the complete environmental impact of flights, as it currently does not include factors such as contrails due to measurement limitations acknowledged by Google and some scientists.
