ARRIVALS
IN FOCUS A closer look at industry developments
NDC prepares for take-off, but do we have the complete picture yet?
IATA’s New Distribution Capability standard is progressing towards industry acceptance, albeit by stealth, says Gillian Upton
Without much fanfare, IATA quietly released a report detailing the results of the multiple pilot programmes undertaken during 2014 by a handful of airlines. In it, the report's author Shaunelle Harris Drake, manager of NDC implementation, concludes “the NDC schemas are fi t for purpose. They support live deployments.” In layman’s terms it means that NDC is moving into the adoption phase and to this end is planning a minimum of eight live deployments this year. Qatar Airways and Air Canada are two of the eight. The shape, size and scope of this
new way of retailing airline tickets will be laid bare for all to see. Strange then that IATA did not see fi t to publicise these fi ndings, particularly when set against a backdrop of criticism from the business travel industry about lack of transparency and collaboration. Already visible are the type of ancillary items IATA is playing with in test phase, including baggage extras, seat reservation, food and beverages and even insurance – the sort of extras that will allow airlines to make even more incremental revenue. Ancillary income already earns airlines a staggering amount of money – a cool US$49.9bn in 2014. It’s no wonder that ancillaries form a large part of the visual merchan- dising of airfares within the shopping experience that is NDC.
14 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
IATA has not been able to answer the question of whether all of its 300-plus airlines will adopt the new-fangled standard because it is not mandatory. But one can assume that the early NDC adopters are likely to be those airlines that piloted the programme last year. And the airlines in the vanguard of change are Hainan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, United, Qatar, Virgin Australia, British Airways, Swiss, Heli Air Monaco and Air Canada, who obviously all see real advantage in adopting NDC. The pilot programmes give an indication of the types of fare bundles being created to market better. Swiss, for example, tested a business bundle on a Zurich- Barcelona fl ight that comprised a fl exible ticket, in a seat up front with the middle seat free, lounge access, priority boarding, two checked bags, one piece of hand luggage and a premium meal. The price was CHF 416. “Extrapolate that concept and
there could be an opportunity for the corporate to negotiate bundles of fares/ancillaries specifi c to their needs,” says one observer. United Airlines tested NDC to sell the airline’s extra legroom seat product to US-based Amadeus agents; Swiss tested how easy it was to manage dynamic pricing requests; BA undertook a more general trial of all their products to their pilot agents; and Shandong Airlines successfully tested NDC shopping via a mobile app. The screen shots created for the pilots are an indication of what NDC will help providers to develop
for the end user, who could be a self-booking tool, direct sell or through a TMC.
Close-up visuals of the seats and cabins are part of the rich content. Photos of the meals and much more were envisaged as part of the experience but testing raised concerns over handling more sophisticated scenarios, as the offering often changes by aircraft type and airport.
Nobody doubts the need for change. The airline industry is still using a 40-year-old data exchange standard for ticket distribution – NDC will drag it into the 21st century. Shoppers will be able to compare
seat size, price, food and any number of other minutiae, but corporates need not worry that travellers will be tempted to book out of policy as the ‘personalisation’ button can be switched off.
“Shoppers will be able to compare seat size, price, food and any number of minutiae”
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