American Airlines and Sabre Corporation announced today the availability of American’s Preferred and Main Cabin Extra Seats through Sabre’s travel marketplace using NDC-based technology standards. This launch represents both companies’ first implementation of NDC technology standards for ancillaries sold through a global distribution system (GDS).

“American Airlines customers love Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats, and we’re excited to have a new way to offer those seats to them through Sabre,” said Cory Garner, managing director for distribution for American Airlines. “This new capability of Sabre moves us closer to our longtime goal of offering our products through as many channels as possible.”

Beginning in February, American Airlines Preferred and Main Cabin Extra Seats will become available to travel agents using Sabre, making Sabre the first GDS to deliver this content to the marketplace. Main Cabin Extra provides customers with up to six inches of more legroom and Group 1 Boarding. Preferred Seats allow customers to select seats located toward the front of the cabin or closer to the window or aisle.

“Sabre and American Airlines have a long history of reaching innovative firsts together so it makes sense that we would cross this milestone together,” said Sean Menke, president of Sabre Travel Network. “Our Air Extras solutions offer airlines an opportunity to capture more revenue on ancillary products and support their omni-channel merchandising strategies.”

Sabre is a leader in providing air merchandising solutions for airlines and was the first GDS to deliver a solution when paid seats were first introduced into the market. The company has approximately 60 carriers selling ancillary services through the Sabre travel marketplace, generating millions of dollars in ancillary revenue for its airlines customers. The number of carriers selling ancillaries through Sabre is expected to increase significantly this year.

With Sabre Air Extras, American Airlines can highlight attributes that differentiate their products to nearly 200 million travelers worldwide each year through more than 435,000 agents using Sabre, executing their merchandising strategies across all distribution channels.

More than 900 suppliers rely on the Sabre travel marketplace for distribution and more than $120 billion in travel is processed by the Sabre travel marketplace annually.