In the news: This week’s focus is on IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC) as three rival global distribution companies – Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre – step up their game to deploy NDC-enabled products and adopt NDC standard in their airline retailing and product distribution strategy.
MERCHANDISING: Travelport reveals plans to include NDC content on its distribution platform
Travelport unveils product roadmap to enable airlines and agents in the NDC era. (Image credit: OstapenkoOlena/iStock-Getty Images)
Travelport has unveiled its product roadmap to extend its content offering to airline customers using the International Air Transport Association (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard.
These products will allow travel agencies to connect through the travel commerce platform platform in a single workflow combining traditional content and new NDC content.
Travelport said it is working with a number of airlines and agents, including Travic and BidTravel, to “ensure the NDC integration serves the needs of all of its stakeholders as this product suite evolves.”
The NDC content within Travelport’s initial set of products include:
- An industrialised connection for airlines that connects via NDC-standard APIs
- A point of sale companion application for travel agencies that offers NDC-enabled content alongside the GDS workflow in the Travelport Smartpoint desktop to be launched in the second half of 2018.
- The next stage will be a fully integrated search, book and manage function, combining NDC and GDS content in the same workflow, delivered on Travelport’s next generation tools including API Trip Services
Travelport said the NDC-enabled content would augment the API content within its Merchandising Suite. It already connects to 24 airlines through APIs.
The company expects to announce the first NDC-enabled airline partnerships “very soon”.
“Building on our unique NDC Level 3 status we are extending our range of products ready for the new mixed-economy era of airline distribution. Travelport has a rich history of innovation and, with our NDC-enabled products, we intend to maintain this as we seamlessly, speedily and accurately deliver the broadest range of bookable content to our customers,” commented Stephen Shurrock, Travelport’s chief commercial officer.
Travelport is Level 2 certified as an IT provider and Level 3 certified as an aggregator last December, the first among GDS operator to achieve IATA’s highest certification.
NDC is a travel industry-supported programme (NDC programme) launched by IATA in 2012 for the development and market adoption of a new XML-based data transmission standard (NDC Standard) for airlines to distribute content to travel agencies and websites.
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Amadeus launches NDC-X programme
Amadeus’ new programme aims to make NDC and improved retailing a reality (Image credit: rstpierr/iStock-Getty Images)
Amadeus has created a dedicated programme to drive the industrialisation of IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC), and in tandem with the travel industry’s move towards personalisation and merchandising techniques to generate new revenues and business opportunities.
The company said the programme was a continuation of its previous work towards the digitalisation of the industry, and to build on NDC.
NDC-X will focus on practical use cases of the standard, adopting a test and learn approach to deliver improved capabilities for the industry.
Gianni Pisanello, who held various roles within Amadeus’ airlines business both on the IT and the distribution side, will lead the new NDC-X programme as its VP, working with experts from across the company.
“We are at a critical moment in terms of the development of the standard, and the readiness of the industry,” said Pisanello. “For NDC to truly take off we need to create a real standard not only for the protocol itself, but also for how it’s implemented. We also need to ensure that it responds to travel seller requirements, and that it has the right economics to drive investment,” Pisanello said.
Julia Sattel, SVP, Airlines, Amadeus, added that NDC is part of a bigger picture of digitalisation as airlines and travel sellers are testing new ways to adapt their businesses and improve services provided to the traveller.
“We are working hard to solve our airline customers’ technology challenges in areas such as merchandising, dynamic pricing and cloud servicing, which we see as the heavy machinery in the background which will make NDC and improved retailing a reality.”
DISTRIBUTION: Sabre recognised as NDC Level 3, capable as an IT provider
Sabre is certified as an IT provider (Image credit: zaozaa09/iStock-Getty Images)
Sabre has become New Distribution Capability (NDC) Level 3 certified as an IT provider, less than two months after the technology provider announced Level 2 capability.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), by granting Sabre “NDC capable” Level 3 status under the NDC certification programme, recognises the technology company supports deployments using offer and order management messages whose schemes are compliant with the standard NDC message scheme.
Sabre said in a statement that along with the ability to create and personalise offers, Level 3 capability indicates it is now positioned to fulfil and service those orders throughout the entire process in both direct and indirect channels.
A major component of this includes verifying offer integrity and ensuring that the order management system can accurately enforce orders based on the rules of the original offer.
“This represents significant progress in our NDC-enabled airline retailing and product distribution strategy and demonstrates how we impact every step of the order and fulfilment process,” said Dave Shirk, president of Sabre Airline Solutions.
He noted that Level 3 capability is just one step in innovating and adapting to a changing marketplace. “Now we are focused on bringing these new capabilities to market as part of our drive to achieving an end-to-end product and services distribution solution.”
Sabre is also certified as an NDC Level 1 aggregator and is on track to reach Level 3 this year.
The technology company says it is committed to NDC standards.
• Featured image credit: IATA
