• Plans 2,000% fleet increase
By Chinelo Obogo
United Nigeria Airlines has partnered with Sabre Corporation in a move that will connect the carrier to over 50,000 travel agents across 200 countries.
The Chairman of UNA, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, announced this partnership at its Lagos office on Friday, revealing that with this deal, the airline is now the third Nigerian carrier to join the Global Distribution System (GDS) as it prepares for the launch of its Lagos-Accra route launch on August 25, 2025.
Okonkwo said that the integration to Sabre is part of its promise to enhance its Information Technology (IT) and innovative ideas and commended the Sabre and the airline’s teams for the migration.
He said: “This is in keeping our promise to go global as quickly as we can. These are things that we have lined up as part of our objectives that have been a little delayed by the turbulence in the country that we are seeing, especially in the aviation sector in the last two to three years. We can be delayed, but can’t be stopped. We understand the challenges that this is coming with, but with over 50,000 agents in 200 countries with the capacity to buy our tickets, it means we have more seats to sell. We need to increase our inventory.
“We have good news for you. By this time next year, we would have increased our capacity by over 2,000 per cent. From October to November this year, we will be inducting into our fleet not less than four big body aircraft and from February to April next year, we are adding six Boeing 737-800NG into our fleet. We know it has been very challenging, but we are not less determined, we are not giving up, we will continue to do our best and continue to count on the public, hoping that they will understand what we do to make things better.”
Vice President, Sabre Travel Central and West Africa, Dr. Olayiwola Dare, said the company would supply to the airline with the IT solutions to enhance its performance. He also stated that through UNA would benefit in the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which would serve its customers and the travel agents better. He said this integration would enable UNA to have access to all the travel channels that Sabre operates, either via the Online Travel Agency (OTA) or through other desired travel agencies.
“In Sabre, we are very much committed to ensure that our technical capability is well-implemented with United Nigeria as we do for other airlines globally. Also, we have a very big market place with over 200 countries currently and over 50,000 travel agencies globally working on our platform and this will put United Nigeria in that platform and accessible to all travel agencies globally and all those travel management companies like Shell, Chevron, Total and other big firms, irrespective of your location throughout the world. United Nigeria is going to be accessible,” he said. Sabre Corporation’s Director, Africa and Europe, Mr. Robert Brian, commended UNA for adopting the technology and said with this, the company would integrate the airline to the rest of the world.
“We are an American company, but we have been working in Africa for years. Today is special because you can now book through GDS in Nigeria. Travel agencies in Tokyo and New York and anywhere in the world can now see your flight. This shows that the industry in Nigeria is advancing. There are strong players here and United Nigeria has shown what the future can do. So, we are very proud of this and Nigeria,” he said.
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