Japan Airlines Group is applying new technology to achieve greater revenues from international operations. It will use a product from Sabre Airline Solutions to manage its seat inventory more effectively, reducing the airline’s exposure to no-shows and duplicate bookings.

The Sabre AirMax Revenue Manager product will help the airline make the most of high value demand close to departure, while simultaneously limiting the number of empty seats on departing aircraft.

Sabre Airline Solutions is the sister business of GDS operator Sabre Travel Network.

This is a great example of the additional value Sabre is able to offer its airline customers beyond the traditional distribution function, said Murray Smythe, Sabre Airline Solutions’ vice-president for the EMEA region.

AirMax Revenue Manager will give JAL a range of decision support tools including data collection, forecasting and performance measurement – all enabling the airline to improve the way it manages seat availability. The airline joins a growing number of others using the product, including Air France, Alitalia, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Malaysia Airlines, TAM Brazilian Airlines and US Airways.

We fully expect to achieve top-line revenues by moving to the AirMax Revenue Manager solution, said Kei Hirai, JAL’s marketing planning and passenger IT promotion manager. We went through an extensive selection process not only to road-test system usability and adaptability, but also to analyse and prove the potential revenue benefits using simulated business scenarios. AirMax Revenue Manager met Japan Airlines’ business requirements completely.

Smythe said he believed JAL had selected AirMax Revenue Manager because of Sabre Airline Solutions’ proven record of delivering incremental revenue to airlines.

As one of the largest carriers in the world, Japan Airlines has significant influence on the direction of technology development in the industry, he said. Its selection of our product for its revenue management requirements reinforces Sabre Airline Solutions’ position as the preferred choice for top airlines around the globe.