Amadeus has kicked off a dedicated programme to help drive the industrialisation of IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) data transmission standard for travel distribution and merchandising.
Created by IATA, NDC is an XML-based standard that it says will enable the travel industry to transform the way air products are retailed. This reflects the industry’s move towards increased personalisation as travellers increasingly expect brands to recognise them and adapt offers to suit.
Amadeus’ NDC-X programme will bring together experts from across the company to focus on practical use cases of the standard, adopting a test and learn approach to deliver improved capabilities for the industry.
The programme is a continuation of its previous work towards the digitalisation of the industry and the creation of commercial possibilities to build on NDC.
Gianni Pisanello, vice-president responsible for leading the NDC-X programme, said this is a critical moment in the development of the standard and the readiness of the industry. “For NDC to truly take off, we need to create a real standard not only for the protocol itself, but also for how it’s implemented. We also need to ensure that it responds to travel seller requirements, and that it has the right economics to drive investment. At Amadeus, we recognise that we have a responsibility to make NDC work for all travel players, and that’s what we will be doing through our NDC-X program,” he said.
Julia Sattel, SVP, airlines, Amadeus, added: “NDC holds great potential for the travel industry, and is part of a bigger picture of digitalisation as airlines and travel sellers are testing new ways to adapt their businesses and improve services provided to the traveller. At Amadeus we are working hard to solve our airline customers’ technology challenges in areas such as merchandising, dynamic pricing and cloud servicing, which we see as the heavy machinery in the background which will make NDC and improved retailing a reality.”
