CAIRO: Sabre Travel Network inaugurated its spacious new office in Maadi’s Abrag Dalah facility while simultaneously celebrating the receipt of AOC approval for the new airline Nile Air from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority.
CEO of Sabre Travel Network Middle East Daniel Naomovitch shared the spotlight with Nile Air CEO Captain Abdullah Al Haidar as they addressed gathered industry heads, including American Express Travel, Ezbet El-Shabrawi and EgyptAir CEO Hussein Massoud.
After cutting the red ribbon, Naumovitch took Massoud by the arm, warmly calling him “part of the [travel] family. The mood was jovially welcoming, despite Nile Air’s status as a competitor for EgyptAir, as it plans to become the second largest carrier out of Cairo International Airport.
Captain Al Haidar was loath to make an official statement. “Other than expressing my happiness at the AOC approval, given the sensitive nature of the situation, Nile Air is waiting until we have something to show, which should be arriving on Thursday.
Nile Air awaits the arrival of their second aircraft, set to touch down within the week. Nile Air’s first plane, an Airbus A320, arrived in country in July.
The coincidence of Sabre’s office opening with the AOC announcement was unexpected, as approval from the Civil Aviation Authority can take weeks or months.
Al Haidar cited the difficult process of receiving approvals that have made the launch of Nile Air “a process that has taken three years of sweat. Nile Air CFO Nemat Salem laughed that she has only been part of the team for the past three months and is “already sweating.
Dallas-based Sabre is the only GDS (Global Distribution System) provider with an in-country regional office and thus appears particularly eager to support the new airline. Naumovitch reminded those assembled of the PCA (Partnership and Cooperation Agreement) between Nile Air and Sabre, while Al Haidar outlined Nile Air’s distribution strategy, 75 percent of which will operate through GDS, of which Sabre GDS is the world’s largest operator.
Naumovitch stressed that Sabre’s transition from Zamalek to the new office in Maadi represents its commitment to Egypt’s “beautiful market.
“I believe Egypt has the best people on the ground, with the most experience, and more importantly, the most love for the business itself he enthused.
Sabre’s Dubai-based Regional Commercial Director Quention Scholtz described Egypt as a “sophisticated market.
“Although it doesn’t necessarily appear so from the outside, those in the Egyptian travel industry know what they want and they are focused on getting it. They care as much about developing the country as they do about developing their businesses, Scholtz explained.
Sabre’s Egypt office remains largely a “brick and mortar operation, according to Naumovitch, meaning that customers come to the office to interact with a travel agent, rather than booking online. Moving to Maadi puts the office in the middle of one of their largest client bases in Egypt, thus the new office incorporates a new 30 person employee training facility.
“Sabre is the number one fare saver, according to independent assessor Topaz International, Scholtz added, for both corporate clients and tourists.
Giuseppe Caputo, Sabre’s account director listed some of the products Sabre offers. “Gethere is a tool for corporations whose employees travel frequently. They need a standard procedure for organizing travel, which each employee can access from their desks.
Sabre also recently established an Egypt Help Desk travel hotline – 16778 – which customers can call with any problems or questions.
Working with both business to business and business to customer interface, Naumovitch emphasized that Sabre is “in the content business.We produce more content, allowing more choice.
Daily News Egypt asked Naumovitch and Scholtz to comment on Sabre’s status in the face of the economic crisis. “Although we saw contraction in all regional markets, we are similarly now seeing signs of recovery in all regions, Naumovitch said.
Questioned about Sabre’s commitment to addressing its industry’s role in combating climate change, Scholtz mentioned Sabre’s carbon computing tool as indicative of Sabre’s dedication to the issue.
However, neither Nile Air nor Sabre seems to have placed carbon reduction high on their agendas; as of yet, the new airline will follow the conventional business model with traditional aircraft, as do the other airlines with which Sabre partners.
