Flight NDC (New Distribution Capability) - Airline’s Transformation to New Heights

 

 

What Does NDC Stand For In Travel ?

 

NDC stands for New Distribution Capability. It’s a standard developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to boost communication between airlines and travel agents and transform the way air products are retailed to leisure and business travellers.

New Distribution Capability (NDC), an IATA-led initiative, is the next generation XML-based technology standard to book, fulfil and manage both flight and non-air ancillary content, addressing the inefficiency in airline ticket distribution. 

The NDC-enabled OTA features a direct ticketing service between airlines and travel agencies, allowing passengers to pre-assign seats, add additional baggage, choose in-flight meals, and purchase in-flight entertainment much more conveniently.

NDC is not a system, database, or piece of software – it's a standard for exchanging information and is open to any third party, intermediary, or IT provider.

With NDC, airlines can share more details about flights and ancillary offerings straight to travel agents, aggregators, and third-party platforms. The technology also lets airlines change prices based on factors such as availability and channeling that information to the consumer in real time.

NDC enables airlines to offer differentiated products and services across multiple channels, such as real-time seat upgrades and dynamic pricing.

NDC therefore enhances, simplifies and extends the communication options between airlines, travel agencies and travelers. NDC, the XML-based data transmission standard launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), literally offers new opportunities in distribution.

Along with NDC, airlines are also changing the shopping process: previously an offer was generated by the GDS based on fare, schedule and availability. In NDC, the airline creates the offer and, with that, can also come up with add-ons such as Wi-Fi, lounge access, pre-boarding and other things.

In simple terms, NDC is an XML-based data transmission standard that revolutionizes communication between airlines and travel agents, empowering seamless collaboration and unlocking a plethora of opportunities.

 

What Actually NDC Is ?

 

New Distribution Capability (NDC) is a travel industry-supported program from IATA. This fresh distribution platform:

 

• Enhances communications capability between airlines and travel agents

• Allows development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard (NDC Standard)

• Allows the travel industry to convert the way air products are retailed to corporations, leisure and business travelers, by addressing the industry’s current distribution limitations

• Is available to any third party, intermediary, IT provider or non-IATA member, to implement and use

• Provides product differentiation and time-to-market, access to full and rich air content as well as transparent shopping experience

 

Why Is The Important Of Flight New Distribution Capability ?

 

 

New Distribution Capability (NDC) was created to enable air service providers to give their clients superior services. It aids the market to embrace a new data transmission system based on the XML standard. Moreover, NDC simplifies better and effective communication between the airlines and the travel agents. This better communication makes it easier for the airlines to develop personalized services for their clients, leading to more profits.

Standardizing the airline industry with NDC creates a more efficient system that benefits the airlines, agents, GDSs, travel start-ups, and customers globally. IATA is committed to using the NDC system to provide immediacy, individualism, and inspiration to its clients throughout the process of shopping and flight booking.

NDC enables airlines to offer a wider range of products and services, including ancillaries, and it authorizes more personalised offers and pricing. This gives airlines more control over their distribution and permits them to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

NDC also has the goal to replace the old data formats, which are spread out between GDS, airline and settlement organisations, leaving airlines with only a part of the truth in their own systems, limiting them to selling only tickets and some predefined extra services via well-known sales channels, which are controlled by third party organisations.

Additionally, because NDC is a travel industry standard created by the IATA, it is being broadly recognized and adopted by airlines and travel agents around the world.

However, capitalizing on the NDC opportunity will need an overhaul of airline business processes and IT systems. Carriers, therefore, need to carefully study the issues that NDC is designed to address, understand the likely costs and benefits, and make a smart decision on how to proceed.

 

How NDCs Work ?

 

 

Implementation and Integration: Airlines embrace the NDC standard into their systems, then update their offerings, fares, and ancillary services to adhere to the NDC format.

API Connectivity: Distribution channels such as travel agencies and aggregators integrate NDC APIs into their systems and create a direct connection with airlines’ NDC-enabled systems.

Search Inquiry: A customer begins a flight search through a distribution channel’s user interface, indicating travel preferences, dates, and destinations.

Real-Time Query and Personalized Offer: The distribution channel sends a real-time query to the airline’s NDC API, which processes the request and makes a personalized offer based on the consumer’s input. This offer involves multiple fare options, seat choices, and additional services tailored to the traveler’s profile.

Booking and Confirmation: The traveler chooses their selected options from the personalized offer, and the distribution channel sends a booking request to the airline’s NDC bookings system. The airline confirms the booking, issues an electronic ticket, and shares the booking details with both the traveler and the distribution channel for itinerary management and post-booking services.

 

Who’s Involved In NDC ?

 

There are various different players involved in the NDC process: travel agents, airlines, aggregators and IT providers.

Travel agents and airlines are straightforward. The aggregators are the various intermediaries involved in communicating the travel agent’s request to various airlines. This can be GDS (Travelport has recently been certified as an NDC provider) or metasearch (Skyscanner has been the quickest adopter). The IT providers managed to integrate NDC into the airline’s IT infrastructure.

 

How Are The GDSs Implementing NDC?

 

All major GDS companies are IATA Level 4-certified and are fully committed to using the IATA NDC standards to connect to partner airlines. They’re focused on delivering a complete end-to-end NDC solution that addresses servicing a traveler throughout the trip, which is missing from the experience today. 

Travelport: Travelport stands as one of the pioneering GDSs to embrace the NDC channel. At the present time, Travelport extends its NDC capabilities through JSON-based Air APIs, which harmoniously coexist with traditional GDS offerings. These capabilities encompass a spectrum of functionalities that substantially increase the distribution of airline content through NDC, culminating in a booking experience that is both comprehensive and finely customized to the preferences of travelers.

Sabre: Sabre offers REST/JSON Offer and Order APIs, enabling access to NDC content from prominent airlines such as Avianca Group (Colombia), Qatar Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines. In its role as a system provider for sellers, SABRE has successfully validated 22 capabilities in accordance with the ARM index. 

These capabilities significantly enhance SABRE's capacity to deliver comprehensive and enriched airline content through the NDC channel, ultimately enhancing the booking experience for both travelers and sellers.

Amadeus: Amadeus has integrated New Distribution Capability (NDC) into its enterprise subscription, targeting major players in the travel industry. This latest functionality is facilitated through XML-based SOAP APIs, which, while somewhat complex and considered outdated compared to REST APIs, serve as the conduit for NDC content integration. Amadeus supports 23 capabilities outlined in the ARM index, thereby increasing the options available to sellers to provide a comprehensive booking experience.

 

What Benefits Does NDC Provide ? 

 

NDC converts the travel distribution landscape by improving content, personalization, and efficiency, resulting in improved user experiences and more robust partnerships across the travel industry.

 

Some benefits of NDC include:

 

Richer Content. NDC allows airlines to present their offerings with more detailed descriptions, as well as more images, videos, and other multimedia elements. However, with NDC, airlines can shine a spotlight on all the exciting extras they offer, such as excess baggage, extra legroom, onboard Wi-Fi and entertainment, pre-ordered meals, day-of-departure changes and upgrades, carbon offsets, and more.

Personalization. With NDC, airlines can customize offers to individual travelers based on their preferences, travel history, and loyalty status. GDSs (Global Distribution Systems), OTAs (Online Travel Agencies), TMCs (Travel Management Companies), and other NDC distributors are now authorized to deliver these customized offers directly to end customer travelers like you! For travelers, it’s like having a magical wardrobe filled with outfits that are perfectly customized to their individual styles.

Real-Time Updates. NDC provides airlines more flexibility to update their flight availability, pricing, and ancillary services in real time. With NDC, however, airlines can adopt dynamic pricing. This means, as demand fluctuates, prices can be quickly matched to the changing conditions. This empowers NDC airlines and travel agencies to tailor fares in real-time based on the current NDC natural market situation and passenger profile, ensuring they get the best deal possible.

Ancillary Sales. NDC empowers airlines to promote and sell ancillary products and services directly to travelers. This includes options such as extra legroom seats, Wi-Fi access, priority boarding, extra baggage, and other ancillaries, which can be bundled or sold separately.

Avoiding GDS Surcharges. Travel managers can avoid the extra fees or surcharges added by airlines to any bookings made via the GDS, resulting in cost savings and more control over travel arrangements.

Seamless Integration. NDC promotes interoperability and standardized messaging formats, making it easier for airlines, travel agents, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), and other technology providers to integrate and exchange data efficiently.

 

NDC Level 4 Capable IT Provider for Airlines

 

NDC Capable Level 4 certification recognizes that the Travelopro NDC Gateway solution has demonstrated the ability to support Full Offer and Order Management capabilities, including servicing, using standard NDC messages compliant with current XML schemas.

Travelopro's top level certifications like IATA NDC level 4 certification, Airline retailing maturity index and IFG certification for NDC technology show us we are experts in the field and don’t just deliver on empty promises.

Travelopro offers a full suite of proven solutions focused on revenue generation and streamlining costs in the areas of reservations, ancillary sales, loyalty, revenue management, revenue accounting and business intelligence.

Travelopro NDC Gateway is an integrated offer and order management system for New Skies carriers that allows Travelopro airline customers to extend their ticketless retailing capabilities, including optimized pricing of ancillaries, in the indirect sales channel.

Through NDC as a distribution channel, Travelopro aims to bring better offers and experiences that benefit both travel agents and their customers alike, resulting in more revenue and higher customer satisfaction.

Using our NDC Level 4 Certification status, travel agencies can get access to exclusive NDC content involving competitive flight fares from a huge range of airlines with ancillaries such as seat upgrades, baggage, onboard food to enhance the traveler booking experience and maximize flight bookings.

The aim of the NDC Certification Program is to confirm the scope and level of a particular entity’s capability to receive and send XML-based communications from and to airlines using IATA NDC transmission standards. NDC, in turn, provides airlines greater flexibility to differentiate and sell their products via third-party intermediaries (such as global distribution systems, aggregators and travel management companies) or direct to consumers.

NDC promises a lot of advantages to the industry: product differentiation, faster delivery and promotion of new products to the market, personalization of particular products and customers, and access to full and rich content of the airlines. Travel agencies and resellers will be able to do product and service comparisons among airlines, and customers will get a transparent shopping experience.

 

Wrapping Up: 

 

As a groundbreaking initiative, NDC has the potential to transform the digital distribution of air travel – or to be an additional burden to an already-strained system. 

By boosting the user experience and bringing innovation to the airline distribution models, NDC provides a variety of advantages to airlines, travel agents, and other travel industry players. But it also poses significant financial, operational and customer experience challenges to TMCs, OTAs and OBTs and other travel distributors.

Therefore, as an industry, we must commit to offering the richest possible shopping experiences for travellers wherever, and whenever, they need us. In our view, implementing NDC facilitates this step forward, as it enables airlines to unlock new distribution channels, localise and target new markets, and expand their range of secure payment methods.