Turkish Airlines Ends Sabre Deal, Launches TKConnect

Turkish Airlines has terminated its distribution agreement with Sabre Airline Solutions as of As of Sep. 1, 2024. The decision is part of the airline’s strategy to boost direct bookings through its new TKConnect platform.

In a statement to Skift, Sabre cited an inability to reach mutually beneficial terms, leading to the discontinuation of Turkish Airlines’ content distribution through its global distribution system (GDS). Turkish Airlines, on the other hand, criticized Sabre for not matching the terms it offers other platforms.

Turkish Airlines plans to launch TKConnect on Oct. 1, which will avoid distribution fees and offer additional features and ancillaries. This move will also introduce a new booking fee for traditional GDSs and remove certain fares from their channels.

TKCONNECT Direct offers instant fare, inventory and additional service opportunities with direct access to Turkish Airlines content via IATA-certified NDC APIs. TKCONNECT via Aggregator is a facilitated integration point to Turkish Airlines products and services provided by industry-leading, IATA registered and Turkish Airlines-certified technology partners. TKCONNECT User Interface provides instant fare, inventory and additional service opportunities with a user-friendly web-based booking portal that simplifies booking, ticketing and post-ticketing services. 

Agencies not yet onboarded as TKCONNECT partners can keep their current setup to Turkish Airlines’ legacy content through Global Distribution Systems (GDS). However, starting from October 1, 2024, bookings made via GDS will incur a distribution cost charge and its differentiated rich content products will only be available for TKCONNECT users. 

Travel advisors interested in TKCONNECT can discover more details on the Turkish Airlines’ Partners Landing Page (ndc.thy.com) or via Turkish Airlines’ sales team. 

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, travelagentcentral.com