Passengers in limbo as PIA's SABRE system goes down

KARACHI - A technical fault in the online reservation system - SABRE - of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has sparked the fear of flight delays among thousands of the airline's passengers all over the world.

More than 400 passengers having their international flights scheduled are being issued manual boarding passes at Karachi airport, sources told DailyPakistan on Tuesday.

This is not the first time the system has gone down. In May, the PIA sales slowed down due to a technical fault in its online reservation system.

Sabre is a US-based global online ticket reservation system, and according to the national flag-carrier, the problem has occurred at the service provider’s end, affecting the airlines around the globe using the system.

Most airlines offer more than one online ticket reservation systems. Airlines primarily using Sabre would have moved to other online reservation system, according to a PIA spokesperson.

Sabre is one of the most familiar systems. Others include Abacus, GDS, Apollo, Free Porter, Amadeus and Galileo.

PIA’s accumulated losses ballooned 7.3 per cent to Rs282.20 billion during a six-month period ended June 30, 2016 as it continued to fly in losses on many international routes and lose domestic business to international airlines.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is the largest airline services with a fleet of more than 30 airplanes.