Sabre Corporation, a prominent software and technology provider in the global travel sector, has partnered with Google to leverage Google’s Travel Impact Model (TIM) to analyze historical emissions from business travel for the first time.

This collaborative pilot program saw Google analysts working with Sabre’s business travel data from 2023 to assess flight-specific corporate travel emissions and devise strategies for future emission reductions. The insights gained from this initiative will enable Sabre to establish attainable emission reduction targets and enhance travel efficiency.

“Taking responsibility for our own emissions, striving towards the most accurate methodology and working on innovative ways to reduce emissions alongside traditional methods are areas of focus for us,“ said Jessica Matthias, Global Sustainability Director, Sabre. “We were delighted to work with our partners at Google to extend the TIM to cover past emissions and it is exciting to be the first company to use the TIM for value chain emissions disclosure. We hope that this can inform and provide insights that can help other companies reduce their emissions from business travel.“

The Google team utilized the TIM for per-flight emission calculations and proposed CO2e reduction tactics based on alternative travel options. The analysis pinpointed high-emission routes as critical targets for substantial impact. For example, they identified significant improvement opportunities on long-haul journeys. The TIM suggested less-polluting alternatives for two-thirds of the assessed flights, including prevalent routes such as Dallas to London and Dallas to Frankfurt, potentially cutting emissions by as much as 10%.

“Companies increasingly need to understand and report the impact of their business travel and we are delighted to work with Sabre to pioneer the TIM as a standard for real world corporate travel emissions disclosure,” added Sebnem Erzan, Global Head of Travel Sustainability Partnerships at Google. “Our long-term collaborative efforts and Sabre’s granular dataset made them the obvious choice for this pilot program.”

In 2023, business travel accounted for nearly 7% of Sabre’s total carbon emissions. With these new findings, Sabre is poised to revise its travel policies to align with these new reduction objectives. Notably, last year, Sabre’s corporate booking tool, GetThere, integrated TIM’s emission data, allowing corporate travelers and Sabre employees to see accurate carbon footprints for flights during booking. Sabre plans to extend this feature across its booking platforms to provide customers with precise emission calculations for their previous travels.

Although business travelers constitute just 12% of the global airline passenger base, they are linked to a disproportionately large share of emissions. For instance, in Europe, business travelers are responsible for about 30% of flight-related emissions. Many firms, motivated by upcoming regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), are aiming to cut emissions tied to travel. Scope 3 emissions, under Category 6 for Business Travel, are particularly challenging to measure with precision and consistency due to their varied nature.

The Travel Impact Model is already incorporated into emission estimates on platforms like Sabre, Google Flights, and others within the Travalyst coalition, including Booking.com, Expedia, and Skyscanner. Soon, TIM will be available for all companies seeking an accurate and detailed method for reporting business travel emissions. This model provides a detailed approach, enabling companies to craft travel policies that push for environmentally friendly flight choices without compromising travel necessities.

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