Sabre Ends Distribution of Aeroflot Flights in Travel Tech Retreat From Russia
Photo Credit: In Russia, an Aeroflot Airbus A320 as seen in 2018. Source: Aeroflot. Flickr / Clay Gilliland
Skift Take
Sabre has stood apart from its travel tech peer companies by being the first to cease offering flights from Aeroflot. It's an unusual step as it comes at a cost to the company. The price of doing the right thing.
Ukraine Coverage
Skift’s reporters and editors are working to explain how the war on Ukraine is impacting travel. All of our stories about the subject are free for all readers.Sabre, a provider of airline information technology to Aeroflot, said on Thursday morning it would stop providing distribution services to the Russian flag carrier, essentially preventing it from selling tickets.
UPDATE 10 am ET: Amadeus said it was also pulling Aeroflot fares from its reservation systems used by agencies.
UPDATE: 2 pm ET: Travelport said it would immediately suspend Aeroflot sales from the platform.
"We are taking a stand against this military conflict," said Sean Menke, CEO of Sabre.
The moves come as part of a broader retreat from Russia. Expedia has stopped selling travel to and from Russia, Boeing has suspended major operations in Moscow, and multiple airlines have stopped flying to, and over, Russia. Meanwhile, enterprise software giant Oracle has "suspended all operations" in Russia while Apple has stopped selling its devices there.
"There’s likely one final action that can level, instantly, Ru
