Ai Editorial: NDC or not - TMCs pushing for content from all sources

10^th July, 2019

Ai Editorial: Established TMCs are trying to ensure that they have access to all the offerings as far as air shopping is concerned, and in this context, owing to NDC, a lot of interesting developments are emerging, writes Ai’s Ritesh Gupta

Many TMCs are currently engaging in testing initiatives around NDC (New Distribution Capability), a technical standard created by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

For instance, working on a new graphical NDC-enabled user interface and gearing up for booking of NDC airline content. TMCs are looking at real NDC use cases in a test-and-learn environment to deliver improved capabilities.

There are several reasons behind the same. One of them is related to having access to all the relevant travel content. TMCs offer several services including reporting, duty of care requirements etc. to corporations, but having access to content and facilitating comparison shopping with rules is of paramount importance. Options to access in-policy travel options include accessing what’s available in the GDS through a corporate booking tool or through a TMC.

GDS or non-GDS route – can’t wait for content

While certain organizations opt for NDC content via the GDS, there are others who don’t opt for such option and have been exploring alternative options.

As SAP Concur shared recently, Business Travel Direct is offering access to British Airways’ NDC through Concur Travel. Plus, Travel & Transport Stateman, has been testing BA NDC. Businesses are also looking at cheaper fares and avoiding any surcharges (being levied by airlines on booking non-NDC content).  (Read more – Are GDSs falling behind?) In case of SAP Concur, their Select Access feature allows clients to enable an airline’s NDC content within Concur Travel, and the fares and schedules for the Select Access-enabled airlines are offered to the traveller alongside the fares and schedules of other airlines sourced from the GDS.

For their part, GDSs, too, have been focusing on content. Companies like Sabre state that their APIs are in a position to integrate and normalize air content from all the sources.

TMCs are exploring options to pilot airlines’ NDC content, but at the same time they are also working closely with GDSs on their evolving NDC solutions and looking to test them as they mature. 

AmTrav has complemented Amadeus for enabling connections to content from many different sources, including NDC.

Amadeus underlines that NDC can curtail the gap between the business and leisure experience, and revitalize the business travel by incorporating the element. This can be done via a customized package, including priority seating & boarding, Wi-Fi, or access to the lounge, all in line with corporate policies, and available in a secure and transparent booking environment.

Making an apt choice

The industry has also witnessed interesting moves from various stakeholders to improve upon flight shopping.

Jeff Klee, CEO, AmTrav, in a blog post, mentioned that for travellers visiting airlines’ sites, the overall experience wasn't consistent since options presented weren’t available through most of the distribution platforms in booking tools. To overcome the same, the team at AmTrav worked on a proprietary technology offering in order to streamline and simplify the online air shopping journey “for travel arrangers and the CXO-level consumer”. He further added that rather than waiting for the NDC standard to emerge, AmTrav made most of the rich content available and tapped it for the company’s platform “in a way that is very similar to NDC”.

“Travellers coming to our site can search fares and airline offers and at a glance see what amenities are available on each flight along with any extra fees. It wasn’t easy, but it clearly provides real value by helping the traveller make the right choice,” shared Klee.  

Being prepared

Irrespective of the preparedness of the industry, including that of airlines for NDC, TMCs aren’t willing to play the waiting game.

In a recent update, FCM Travel Solutions’ Global Managing Director, Marcus Eklund mentioned NDC will increasingly become a reality in 2019, “but our goal has always been to balance the short-term priorities of NDC with building a long-term, workable solution with our technology partners at Amadeus and Sabre”.

“If you draw an analogy with moving into a new house, the ultimate vision for NDC is the perfect smart home where everything works and you have Alexa in every room. However, the airlines are pushing us to move into a half-built house. There is still a lot of work to be done. That’s why we are piloting solutions with our technology partners to make sure that when we do move into that house, we can give our customers an even better business travel experience. The last thing we want to create for ourselves and our customers is more inefficiencies when booking flights and managing data,” stated Eklund.

TMCs are looking at richer content, and at the same time intend to sustain efficient booking management and seamless fulfilment. Plus, they are trying to overcome possible NDC servicing gaps such as refunds and booking changes. As Sabre pointed out in its recently released NDC-related study, TMCs are going to benefit provided “future releases of NDC can solve for work processes such as interlines, schedule changes and PNR synchronization”.

Hear from senior industry executives about NDC at the upcoming Mega Event Asia-Pacific, to be held in Kuala Lumpur (20 – 22 August 2019).

Event site: www.MegaAPAC.com