NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK
Express Global Business Travel and others, Humphreys said: “These agreements are about working with major partners on a timeline for implementing NDC. We’re working on implementation, hopefully with existing technology players. We think these arrangements are in everyone’s best interests.” Travelport chief executive
Gordon Wilson dismissed BA’s NDC connectivity last week as “not fit for purpose”. But Humphreys said: “Gordon has acknowledged there is significant change in the market. NDC will continue to evolve. “Airlines file over 100 million
fares through ATPCO [the Airline Tariff Publishing Company] to distribute through GDSs. Think of the work involved in that. It’s hardly dynamic. We are constrained. “NDC will not solve everything,
but over time it will change the way we price, the way we bundle, the way we present our offer to customers. We can be far more tailored and targeted.” He told the GTMC: “I
encourage open dialogue around new technology and a new way of working.” Humphreys insisted: “TMCs are at the centre of our highest-value business. We want to work with TMCs. We will always work with third parties that add value.” He added: “TMCs have
built their proposition on fantastic technical knowledge and customer service. [Yet] increasingly, these qualities are not enough. More and more it is about understanding, collating and presenting data. All of us have to manage data. I like to think we can find a way to better integrate and work together.” Reminded of BA’s system
meltdown in May, Humphreys said: “We had a lot of support from the industry. I want to thank everyone for their help.”
Travelport boss brands BA NDC ‘not fit for purpose’
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
The head of Travelport has dismissed the New Distribution Capability (NDC) connectivity of British Airways and Iberia as “not fit for purpose”.
Travelport president and chief
executive Gordon Wilson said: “I don’t know of a single agency of any size that has signed up to BA’s NDC capability. “It [the connectivity] is all
through the GDS model and they couch it in language like ‘We agree to explore NDC’. But they all say the GDS provides the best value.” International Airlines Group-
owned BA and Iberia began charging £8 (€9.50) “per fare component” on GDS bookings last week, meaning travel management companies (TMCs) and leisure agents without fee-waiver agreements face a £16 (€19) surcharge on point-to-point return fares. Air France-KLM confirmed it
will follow BA and Iberia’s lead with a GDS fee from next April. The Lufthansa Group has levied a charge on GDS bookings since September 2015.
NDC connectivity
BA and Iberia announced the charge in May, insisting it would apply “to bookings not made using an NDC-based connection” or direct. Wilson said: “It is five months on and, lo and behold, there is no NDC connectivity of any note.” But he added: “I’m optimistic. Our full-content contract with BA only ran out on October 31. “We are negotiating with BA
on how to move forward. The vast majority of agencies we have [contracts with] in the UK are businesses that BA finds valuable.”
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travelweekly.co.uk 9 November 2017
WILSON: Travelport chief says there is ‘no NDC of any note’
BA has agreed to waive fees
for corporate travel giants Carlson Wagonlit Travel, HRG and American Express Global Business Travel and other TMCs and agencies, but so far only for GDS bookings via Amadeus. However, Wilson said: “IAG has
done us a favour by demonstrating the value of the GDS channel. “Its NDC protocol is not ready
“Some airlines thought NDC was going to be a panacea. Now they understand there is more to it”
and it’s not fit for purpose. “Some airlines thought NDC was
going to be a panacea. Now they are starting to understand there is more to it. I think there has been a step-change in attitude [by IAG].” Wilson added: “NDC will come,
absolutely. Our guys are already working on NDC. “We’re not opposed to NDC
in terms of sourcing content. But it does not address data management and all the things that happen now through the GDS.” He said BA had “broken its compact with full content for everybody” and forecast: “They will pick and choose who they work with and others will bear price increases, because that is what the GDS surcharge means. “But I imagine the private [NDC] channel will be available through all the GDSs.”
Travelport revenue
Wilson was speaking as he reported results for the three months to September, for which Travelport recorded a 3% rise in revenue. The company posted a 4%
revenue rise for the nine months of the year to date, with a 2% increase in operating profit. Wilson reported costs “somewhat higher than anticipated” on the back of “an order book twice the size of this time last year”. He told analysts: “The NDC
API will not replace or replicate many of the vital capabilities that a platform such as ours provides, and at the scale that we do it.”
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