Sabre Holdings Corporation,  today announced that it has acquired the Kiehl Hendrickson Group (KHG), a privately held firm specializing in airline planning and scheduling products and airport consulting.
The acquisition furthers Sabre`s ability to serve the small and medium-sized airline segment of the airline software market and expands Sabre`s customer base and position in the aviation consulting market.

KHG

and its product and services portfolio will be integrated into Sabre

Airline Solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“By combining the best of both product lines, Sabre will broaden its planning and scheduling tools for the higher growth small and medium-sized airline segment,” said Tom Klein, group president of Sabre Airline Solutions. “KHG`s leading position in airport consulting also will broaden our consulting expertise, and expand our potential customer base.”

“KHG and Sabre both have long histories in providing planning and scheduling products to airlines,” said Steve Hendickson, KHG president. “The combination of Sabre`s established solutions and KHG`s strong position in the small-to-medium airline sector creates a broad-based, end-to-end offering for our customers.”

The deal supports Sabre`s strategy to deepen its penetration of the small- to-medium sized airline market. In 2000, Sabre successfully launched eMergo, the company`s ASP offering. By utilizing the eMergo platform, smaller airlines are able to access some of the leading edge technologies critical to performing in the current environment, while maintaining low cost of operations. A total of 26 eMergo client agreements have been signed to date for this solution.

In 2001, the acquisition of David R. Bornemann & Associates flight operations and crew management products for small-to medium-size carriers built on Sabre`s initiatives for this segment by increasing access to more sophisticated products and technology for these customers.

Currently, over 200 airlines use Sabre`s portfolio of software solutions for decision-support tools to streamline and simplify operations. More than 70 airlines worldwide use Sabre for their reservations systems, with 10 new carriers and four renewals signing in 2002. In addition, the consulting group has more than 100 clients worldwide and specializes in strategic, commercial and operational consulting. More than 300 contracts have been signed in 2002 within the Sabre Airline Solutions business unit.

Related stories on ITN:

(29/10/2002) Sabre Holdings Announces New Airline Participation Level

(29/10/2002) Sabre Adds Consolidator Content with Patheo and SolarNet

(17/10/2002) Sabre Holdings Reports 3Q Financial Results

——-