British Airways and Iberia said that on Sept. 18 they would increase the surcharge applied to bookings that don’t go through “an NDC-based connection or through other low-cost channels,” according to messages to travel agencies. The new fee is $12, or 10.50 euros and £9 per fare component. That’s up from the initial fee of $10/9.50 euros/£8. “We… Read More »
American Airlines, American Express Global Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Flight Centre Travel Group joined with Sabre to develop, integrate and test New Distribution Capability-enabled offers and orders. Under the program, called Beyond NDC, these launch partners and Sabre would seek to integrate NDC with the “retailing, distribution and fulfillment systems that support the travel ecosystem,” according to a… Read More »
[CORRECTION, July 13, 2018: The original version of this article incorrectly identified one of the owners of Atriis. Along with Israel’s Amsalem, the other co-owner is Vision Capital, a U.K.-based private equity firm.] Some travel management companies are coming to grips with the New Distribution Capability, and they’re not going it alone. Global distribution systems, agency networks, tech… Read More »
Amadeus became the tenth company in IATA’s New Distribution Capability program certified as a Level-3 aggregator, according to IATA’s NDC Registry. Amadeus previously achieved Level 3 certification, the highest level, as an IT provider. The certifications indicate a company’s ability to handle messaging via an NDC-compliant application programming interface. For aggregators, that means consuming such APIs made available… Read More »
[CORRECTION, June 28, 2018: The International Air Transport Association projects its New Distribution Capability initiative to achieve critical mass by 2020, not 2022 as originally stated here, according to a spokesperson. This article has been updated to reflect that projection.] The travel industry still is trying to understand the consequences of IATA’s New Distribution Capability. That hasn’t stopped… Read More »
According to published reports in Europe, Lufthansa Group on April 5 began discounting by 20 euros some short-haul economy-class roundtrip fares when booked through direct or NDC-enabled channels. This is on top of the 16 euro surcharge Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss currently apply on bookings through global distribution systems, effectively more than doubling the disadvantage in traditional, indirect… Read More »
Sitting at the nexus of travel agencies and airlines, ARC is well-positioned to understand the needs of both sides. Today’s advisor, ARC president and CEO Mike Premo, advocates collaboration on the changes facilitated by IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC). That’s because while there’s a lot to sort out when it comes to air travel booking, servicing and contract… Read More »