success. The US$2 incentive also recognises that travel agencies will have a cost when adopting NDC.” But Amex GBT’s Bukowski says the US$2 incentive from AA is not high enough. “This amount would not come close to covering the additional cost needed to implement a fragmented, single airline channel in the travel ecosystem,” he adds.
So what should travel buyers make of these developments? NDC could have profound effects on how air travel is booked and mar- keted to travellers in the next few years. And there’s the thorny question of how the costs of developing NDC-based connections are being paid for – or, more importantly, who ends up footing the bill. Carlson Wagonlit Travel has already hinted it may add charges to pay for the cost of having to introduce new airline booking channels. And ATPI’s UK managing director Adam Knights says: “If the airlines look to reduce or cut out their cost of distribution via the GDS then the client will either pay more for non-GDS
the airline and retail partners, and from a static sales platform to a dynamic one.” McLean is predicting that “all major airlines” will have an NDC-based booking system by 2020 and that these carriers will not renew their current GDS contracts on a “full content” basis when they do. “As NDC matures, the consumer is going to be the winner,” predicts McLean. “We’re going to be able to deliver a better user experience on the back of the proliferation of NDC.” Of course, the big GDS owners are also working with airlines on NDC projects that will be introduced over the next few years. “We have managed several successful NDC implementations and are actively working on others,” says Amadeus’s Valmorbida. ACTE’s Greeley Koch agrees that there is “tremendous potential to see disruption in distribution”. But this will only happen if NDC connections offer travel buyers a “more customised experience for corporate booking”, which could eventually “sup- plant” traditional GDS bookings. But we are certainly not there yet and part of the problem is that the airline industry
booked content – via a third-party aggrega- tor like Travelfusion – or accept a higher fee for booking via the GDS.” And while HRG’s Brindle is “excited”
about NDC, saying: “Change needs to happen – people say the existing model isn’t broken, but I think it is a little bit broken,” he also warns: “Any change requires cost and you cannot just do something for nothing.”
Another enthusiast for NDC is technology- based Click Travel, which has already launched NDC connections with both British Airways and Lufthansa. Click executive chairman Simon McLean says: “In the NDC model, retail partners are effectively buying directly from the airline. This not only dramatically reduces the cost of distribution, but also provides airlines with much greater flexibility in their ability to bring new innovative products and pricing to market at speed. “Think of it as a change from an indirect relationship to a direct relationship between
has not sufficiently explained what NDC is and what it will mean for travel buyers. “There is still a lot of confusion in the buyer community about what NDC really is,” adds Koch. “In my conversations with travel managers, many are unclear as to whether it’s a new booking tool or a sales protocol for airlines. Without clarity, buyers are going to resist implementation, and no one wins. “Airline industry associations really need to step up their game when it comes to education about NDC. How NDC is understood by the corporate travel com- munity and what it actually is are not the same. Education is important to overcom- ing any perceived stigma and resistance to change,” he explains.
So while the airline and managed travel industries sort through the technical and commercial challenges thrown up by NDC, they also need to provide a more coherent overall message to buyers themselves – and that’s clearly not been delivered yet.
NDC: latest developments
• American Airlines is offering ‘bundles’ of ancillary products, such as checked bags and seat allocation, through its latest NDC connections. American will pay US$2 to TMCs for every segment booked through the NDC-enabled link as part of an incentive programme.
• Travelport has been granted ‘Aggregator Level One’ certification and ‘IT Provider Level Two’ status by IATA, which allows the technology firm to integrate airlines’ NDC-based content within Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform, including giving travel bookers the ability to add ancillary products after the original booking.
• Expense management specialist Concur is to offer NDC-based content from British Airways and Lufthansa to its clients. Concur can already capture direct bookings from British Airways, Lufthansa and Iberia through its Triplink service.
• Lufthansa Group has agreed a new long-term deal with technology firm Farelogix to support its new distribution platforms, including the airline group’s NDC links and the ‘direct connect’ Farelogix Open Connect service.
• British Airways has signed an agreement with Paxport, a merchandising distribution system (MDS) provider, to sell its flights and ancillaries through Paxport’s Findandbook and Paxshop platforms using NDC.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158
