Google LLC has landed cloud computing deals with two of the biggest players in the global travel industry to power key parts of their digital transformation initiatives. 

The first contract, announced today, is a 10-year agreement with Sabre Corp. that will see Google become its “preferred cloud provider.” Southlake, Texas-based Sabre operates a payment platform that processes more than $260 billion in travel-related purchases annually for companies such as airlines and hotel chains. It posted revenues of $3.78 billion for its most recent fiscal year.

Sabre will migrate existing information technology infrastructure to Google Cloud, as well as use the search giant’s managed analytics tools in an upcoming initiative to identify ways of improving  operational efficiency. In the longer term, the firm wants to use Google Cloud to expand its travel platform’s features. The companies “have aligned upon a framework that leverages talent and assets of both” for the project, talent which will likely include engineers from the search giant’s growing cloud consulting business.

“As our preferred cloud provider and broader strategic partner, Google Cloud will help to accelerate our digital transformation and ability to create a new marketplace and critical products and systems focused on our customer needs for decades to come,” Sabre Chief Executive Officer Sean Menke said in a statement.

The other deal the Alphabet Inc. subsidiary announced is with Deutsche Lufthansa Group AG. The contract is narrower in scope than the one with Sabre, centering on the airliner’s plans to mix more artificial intelligence into its operations.

Lufthansa is Germany’s flag carrier and the largest aviation group globally with close to $40 billion in revenues as of 2018. The company intends to build an AI-powered flight optimization platform on Google Cloud that will analyze factors such as departure dates and plane maintenance schedules to identify ways of cutting wait times for flyers. In addition, the system will be capable of recommending new flight plans when bad weather interrupts normal operations. 

“This will enable us to identify possible flight irregularities even earlier and implement countermeasures at an early stage,” said Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser.

Photo: Unsplash