Sabre and Cyberes sign exclusive international outsourcing agreement

Cyberes plc has signed an outsourcing agreement with Sabre, the world’s leading provider of technology, distribution and marketing services to the travel industry.

Sabre will use Cyberes’ unique on-line travel reservation system as a cost-effective channel to deliver over two million net fare combinations to existing and potential travel agency customers.

Cyberes estimates that the potential market for this product is approximately 100,000 Independent Travel Agents (ITAs) worldwide.

Travel agencies will be offered a connection to the Internet-enabled Cyberes system free of charge. The system will benefit smaller agencies in particular as it gives them real-time access via the Internet to Sabre’s vast array of published IATA flights and Cyberes’ specifically negotiated fares, without the need for dedicated hardware or telecommunication links.

Sabre will support the outsourcing agreement by working with Cyberes to market the solution to existing and potential customers in the UK, Ireland and the Nordic region.

David Brown, Sabre’s vice president for the UK, Ireland and the Nordic region, said: “For some time, we have been looking for a cost effective reservation system that will allow Sabre to improve its service to smaller customers in particular, and help build our market share in that segment. Cyberes provides us with a proven, easy-to-use reservation system that will take our massive flight offering straight to the heart of the smaller travel agency at low cost.

“Our extensive testing of the offering in the UK and Scandinavia has proved very positive and we will be rolling it out there first, then building our presence elsewhere.”

Tariq Malik, chief executive of Cyberes said: “The agreement with Sabre is an important step forward for Cyberes and a major endorsement of our technology and system. We have the opportunity to build on Sabre’s considerable international presence and network to develop a new revenue stream with smaller travel agents outside of the UK, minimising risk and costs associated with market entry.”

About Sabre
Sabre is the leading provider of technology, distribution and marketing services for the travel industry. Headquartered in Southlake, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the company has approximately 5,500 employees in 45 countries. Sabre reported 2001 revenues of $2.1 billion. Sabre maintains an ownership interest of approximately 70 percent in Travelocity.com (NASDAQ: TVLY), the most popular travel site on the web; and it owns GetThere, the world’s leading provider of Web-based travel reservation systems for corporations and travel suppliers. Sabre is an S&P 500 company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TSG). More information on Sabre is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.sabre.com.

About Cyberes plc
Cyberes has created a business-to-business, on-line travel reservation system that allows independent travel agents (ITAs) to improve the service they offer to their customers. The system, which is free of charge, allows ITAs to gain real-time access via a standard PC to over 50 million published fares through Sabre, the world’s leading Global Distribution System (GDS) and hundreds of thousands of negotiated fares that are currently available through its 51 airline arrangements. As a major flight consolidator, or wholesaler, Cyberes’ principal revenue stream is currently from the resale of these negotiated and published fares. In December 2000, the company achieved a quotation on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), raising net £4.3m via an institutional placing.

The potential world market for travel remains impressive (£340 billion), with the UK flight only market being some £9.52 billion. The majority (72%) of this market relates to sales of scheduled flights, which is a core market. The UK market is serviced by approximately 7,000 travel agency outlets, of which 3,500 are independently owned and thus form the potential sales channel. For further information on Cyberes visit http://www.cyberes.co.uk

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