Amadeus and Finnair continue innovating together to drive NDC forward

The close partnership between Amadeus and Finnair is set for new heights with a renewed agreement, which will provide Finnair with increased flexibility to support its recently announced distribution strategy.

Finnair’s NDC Partner Program will encourage travel sellers to access content through a variety of solutions, including aggregation platforms such as the Amadeus Travel Platform. Amadeus travel sellers that sign up to Finnair’s NDC Partner Program will have access to the same wide range of content that is available via any other intermediated channel, allowing them to search and shop for Finnair’s products and services through the channel of their choosing.

Through NDC and other initiatives, Amadeus is providing the technology to support Finnair’s strategy to increase ancillary sales and enrich the shopping experience.

In addition to this agreement, Amadeus and Finnair today announce a key milestone in our strategic partnership as Finnair is the driver airline to integrate Altéa NDC with the Amadeus Travel Platform.

This will support Finnair’s digital transformation strategy as it looks to effectively distribute new content and fares through an NDC connectivity across all channels. Thanks to the standardization followed by Altéa NDC, this connection will enable all Altéa NDC carriers to automatically integrate their content through an NDC connectivity at the flick of a switch. This represents a first for the industry as airlines can now meet their NDC business objectives by integrating seamlessly with the Amadeus Travel Platform.

For Amadeus travel sellers, this agreement means Finnair’s content will be bookable through the Amadeus Travel Platform through an NDC connectivity, ensuring operational continuity and access to a wide range of Finnair’s content.

Manuel Midon, Executive Vice President, Airlines North & West Europe at Amadeus, said: “Airlines are on a digital journey and NDC is one of the ways they can improve their retailing capabilities. Amadeus is committed to make NDC work at scale across all channels, direct and indirect, to ensure airlines can distribute their content easily through the channels of their choosing. Through the Finnair NDC Partner Program and the new Altéa NDC integration with the Amadeus Travel Platform, we are supporting Finnair in its long-term strategy to effectively distribute content and fares across all channels.”

"We believe these new distribution solutions will benefit all players in the value chain – and create win-win opportunities for all involved. There is a strong momentum towards these new solutions and 2019 will be a critical year for us as we push for long-term simplification of distribution through NDC, ONE order, and various other initiatives. We are excited to be working with Amadeus to make our vision a reality," says Rogier van Enk, VP Digital Revenue & Distribution, Finnair.

Finnair is one of the airline partners in Amadeus’ NDC-X program, which is driving the industrialization of NDC and making the standard work for all players in the value chain. As part of Amadeus’ commitment to making NDC a reality, Amadeus has continually been progressing in achieving the IATA certifications on its NDC capabilities. As an IT Provider, Amadeus is now certified as NDC Capable at Level 4, meaning full Offer & Order Management.