The Business Travel Magazine June/July 2019

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Air travel / Distribution Airlines and TMCs have not really shown what additional value NDC will bring to corporates and that question mark is still very much out there” 80 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
Distribution / Air travel CHANNEL hopping New Distribution Capability is changing the way airlines present and sell their various product offerings, but NDC is a slow burn, writes Linda Fox While some travel industry commentators tipped 2019 as the year that NDC would finally take off, the progress we are seeing – and there is much of it – is currently taking place behind the scenes. In recent weeks, for example, Sabre announced the release of its first lot of NDC APIs with United Airlines as the launch carrier. The development provides the capability for Sabre’s Beyond NDC agency partners to make NDC bookings. The global distribution company then uses its advanced shopping API to integrate other air content including low-cost carriers so that agents continue to access the full range. The GDS is planning further developments in 2019 including integration of NDC content in its Sabre Red 360 agent desktop system. Qantas has also announced its own NDCbased developments with a plan to introduce an agency booking channel from August. It says the channel will provide access to “the widest range of fares, products and information” as well as content not available in current indirect channels. The airline has said that agents not registering for the service could incur a channel fee and its top agency partners are already on board, including Flight Centre and Expedia. In a statement, Qantas Chief Customer Officer Vanessa Hudson says that the carrier has watched on while other airlines have adopted new distribution models and that Qantas believes “collaboration will deliver the best outcomes.” Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are partnering with Qantas to open up the channel to agents globally. A further recent announcement came from Amadeus who is partnering with FCM Travel Solutions and Flight Centre to test the distribution company’s NDCenabled user interface. Amadeus describes the development as “an important milestone” in its NDC-X program with FCM and Flight Centre to begin making NDC bookings via the UI within the Amadeus selling platform. These are small steps and there will be many over the course of this year and well into 2020 as airlines, travel management companies and technology partners move towards a modern retailing system that aims to work for everyone. The developments are also a clear sign of the sort of collaboration now taking place in the industry, something which was not so apparent just a few months ago. Marcus Eklund, Global Managing Director of FCM Travel Solutions, says NDC content will become more of a reality in 2019. The TMC is clearly taking NDC seriously having established a team at the beginning of 2019 to help drive adoption of the technology standard. Eklund sees the Amadeus user interface as a positive first step towards how consultants will “book in an efficient way and how we are going to service those bookings.” The servicing element is critical for the travel management community as right now, while NDC bookings can be made via various airline channels, making changes is a big challenge and, for the majority, requires picking up the phone to the airline. While these elements are being developed in the background, the message being presented to corporate buyers and travellers can still be quite confusing. Eklund believes the industry has not helped itself in this regard. “The main thing is what does it actually mean for me as a 81 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM 81
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76 June/July 2019 FLIGHT PATHS An e
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Isn’t it time you started saving
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ARRIVALS OPENING SHOTS Eye-catching
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ARRIVALS EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT..
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PARIS • BRUSSELS • AMSTERDAM
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ARRIVALS SIX OF THE BEST Six of the
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ARRIVALS EVENT REPORT ITM Conferenc
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CHAUFFEUR DRIVE Back-seat RIDERS Do
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B
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Highest standards Convenient techno
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AWARDS The Business Travel People A
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TRAVEL POLICY Simply READ The days
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TRAVEL POLICY times the traveller
Page 29 and 30: A different view on business travel
Page 31 and 32: THE BIG PICTURE Sky high NEW YORK c
Page 33 and 34: THE CONVERSATION in brief... You've
Page 35 and 36: EVENT PREVIEW For the first time, T
Page 37 and 38: WELCOME TO A NEW LEVEL OF HOSPITALI
Page 39 and 40: TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY [ Data deploy
Page 41 and 42: GLOBAL HOTEL GROUPS Rarely recognis
Page 43 and 44: Business & leisure in equal measure
Page 45 and 46: GLOBAL HOTEL GROUPS Take a good loo
Page 47 and 48: ARRIVALS EVENT REPORT ProcureCon Tr
Page 49 and 50: TALKING TRAVEL LEVISON WOOD Levison
Page 51 and 52: THE REVIEW the Review THE NEWS & VI
Page 53 and 54: THE REVIEW T H E L O W D O W N IN B
Page 55 and 56: THE REVIEW I N T H E A I R IN BRIEF
Page 57 and 58: THE REVIEW R O O M R E P O R T IN B
Page 59 and 60: THE REVIEW M e e t i n g p l a c e
Page 61 and 62: EVENT REVIEW PA & EA networking eve
Page 63 and 64: IT's the largest area of travel spe
Page 65 and 66: Introduction / Air travel Our custo
Page 67 and 68: Tel Aviv is taking off Attention al
Page 69 and 70: Spend management / Air travel Many
Page 71 and 72: BECAUSE GOOD CONNECTIONS ALWAYS HEL
Page 74 and 75: Air travel / Business class Suite S
Page 76 and 77: Air travel / Business class JetBlue
Page 78 and 79: Air travel / Business class The A3
Page 82 and 83: Air travel / Distribution NDC still
Page 84 and 85: Air travel / Consolidation Going to
Page 86 and 87: Air travel / Data price WATCH ££
Page 88 and 89: DEPARTURES New kid on the block har
Page 90 and 91: EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR NINE TO FIV
Page 92 and 93: DEPARTURES Focus on... South East A
Page 94 and 95: DEPARTURES Factfile: South East Asi
Page 96 and 97: DEPARTURES Reality check HOTEL: OCK
Page 98 and 99: DEPARTURES The final word Arranging
Page 100: The FREE event for buyers and arran
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The Business Travel Magazine June/July 2019

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