NDC: a new dawn for the travel industry unfolds

Only by working in close collaboration with airlines, travel sellers and IATA could we make sure that the right pieces of the puzzle could come together so NDC could actually see the light of day and begin to deliver on its promise.

Amadeus NDC [X] was created for precisely this reason: to accelerate NDC’s deployment and adoption across the industry. While we still have some ways to go before NDC is massively deployed across the industry, the good news is that we are well on our way.

Travix has been a driver customer of Amadeus NDC [X] and we’ve been busy developing our NDC-enabled Web Services solution together, which is already generating live bookings. In parallel, we have been co-developing and testing the NDC capabilities of Selling Platform Connect, our graphical user interface for professionals, with Flight Centre and FCM, also Amadeus NDC [X] driver customers. We’re all set to start making NDC bookings via the enhanced solution, of which you can have an initial sneak peek here.

But behind the scenes on the IT side, NDC implies much broader systems changes than simply upgrading a messaging protocol. It implies a fundamental overhaul in offer and order management. And we’ve witnessed interesting developments on this side too.

In addition to being Level 3 certified as an aggregator, we are proud of our badges as an IT Provider having recently achieved Level 4 certification for Altéa NDC, our offer and order management solution. On top of this certification, we are also working with Finnair to seamlessly integrate Altéa NDC into the Amadeus Travel Platform. This means that, in addition to being able to connect to individual partners directly, any airline with Altéa NDC will also have the freedom to share its NDC content with travel sellers through the Amadeus Travel Platform. At the flick of a switch, airlines will be able to tap into our global travel seller network.

Further demonstrating our commitment to the industry’s digital transformation and simplification within the NDC and One Order backdrops, we also obtained certification as a capable Order Management System.

So, we can see that there is a lot more behind delivering NDC than simply upgrading a messaging protocol. Going back to my initial point about the importance of collaboration in bringing the different pieces of the puzzle together during our NDC journey, I leave you with a video we recorded during our recent NDC [X] Advisory Forum meeting in which our airline and travel agency customers share their views, experiences, expectations and challenges with NDC to date.

In addition, below I share an infographic which provides further detail on Amadeus' NDC journey. To continue to keep up to date, sign up to our Insights section and check out our dedicated webpage on NDC.