Travelport has taken a step ahead of its rival GDSs (global distribution system) by claiming to be the first to manage live flight bookings with IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC) content.
The travel commerce company said the first transaction was made by a British agency, Meon Valley Travel, on October 19 for a short-haul low-cost flight from London to Milan issued by a “major European carrier”. It did not disclose the name of the airline.
According to Travelport, the booking was managed through its latest Smartpoint agency point-of-sale that allows bookings to be made for any services on the airline without incurring a surcharge.
“It is the first of a series of products Travelport is developing to accommodate changing airline distribution methods,” it added.
Gordon Wilson: Delighted to bring the NDC era to life. (Image credit: Travelport)
Gordon Wilson, Travelport’s president and CEO, hailed the development as “a landmark moment” for airline distribution.
“We are delighted to have taken a lead in bringing the NDC era to life. We are still at the very earliest stages of NDC deployment. Its evolution will continue to take time as we learn from the practical experience of its first use.”
Aleks Popovich, IATA’s financial and distribution services senior vice president, in congratulating Travelport commented: “This is a significant step toward the new era of airline retailing. We look forward to continuing to work with Travelport as it advances NDC-enabled products.”
Travelport said over the next few months the first version of the NDC capability would be used by a steadily increasing number of agencies and airlines as part of the NDC rollout.
“It will be followed by a series of product enhancements, including a version for online agents in 2019.”
In December 2017 Travelport was the first GDS operator to acquire Level 3 certification from IATA as an aggregator.
• Featured image credit: orn_france/iStock-Getty Images
