TTN

Travel agents can avoid GDS surcharges

Share  

NDCMarketplace.com, a new subscription-based global marketplace connecting airlines and travel sellers, which enables both parties to buy and sell air products using IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard, has officially launched.

Developed by Dubai-based travel technology firm and IATA NDC and One Order-certified IT Provider, TPConnects, the B2B online marketplace offers travel agents from around the world a new, highly efficient way to search, compare, book airline tickets, ancillaries and related services on NDC-certified low-cost and full-service airlines, from one central location.

Since travel agents will be using their own credentials and form of payment on NDCMarketplace.com, they will not lose their Global Distribution Services (GDS) incentives and can avoid GDS surcharges imposed by airlines like Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, British Airways, Lufthansa Group and Air France/KLM, while saving on GDS distribution fees for NDC content from airlines including British Airways.

A ground-breaking initiative led by IATA and developed in conjunction with airlines, travel management companies (TMCs), online travel agencies (OTAs), GDS developers and other technology players, New Distribution Capability (NDC) is a new XML-based data transmission standard supporting next-generation B2B travel transactions.  NDCMarketplace.com is an IATA NDC Level 4 Certified Aggregator.

NDCMarketplace.com connects dozens of NDC-certified and Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs)along with Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) regardless of schema, standard and version.

Participating airlines on the other side will be able to create and distribute dynamic, tailored offers through travel agents as they receive specific information at shopping time–like the traveller's destination, the length of their trip, and whether they are travelling alone or not through the NDC connected pipe.

“Despite the pandemic’s impact on air travel in the past year, airline’s focus on NDC has not stalled or slowed down. In fact, far from it,” explained Rajendran Vellapalath, CEO of TPConnects. “2021 will be the year of broad deployment of NDC-enabled airline content around the world. As a pioneer in NDC-based travel technology, TPConnects is committed to the global industrialization of NDC because we know that the travel industry will need NDC to keep up with the demand of the modern digital consumer.

“One of the biggest challenges in the slow adoption of NDC by the travel agency community is the multiple NDC Agency Portals rolled out by individual airlines or the Application Programming Interface (APIs) with various schemas and versions deployed by NDC certified airlines in addition to the low-cost carrier’s already existing store fronts.

“Agents have to switch between the screens to search and compare the best offers or end up paying additional surcharges for NDC bookings made through traditional channels or soon will end up paying a distribution fee. NDCMarketplace.com is bringing content from both the traditional channel as well as the NDC and LCC channels in to one screen, combined with rich content from Route happy, enabling the travel agents to leverage all the benefits,” he added.  

Spacer