Global travel management company CWT will begin piloting a New Distribution Capability (NDC) programme in August that will allow its travel consultants to make live NDC bookings for customers via its global distribution technology partners.
The TMC will commence booking and servicing NDC-enabled content on Singapore Airlines and Air France-KLM, through the Amadeus Travel Platform. In addition to corporate negotiated rates, the pilot covers certain unique NDC-enabled content on these airlines.
For Singapore Airlines, this will initially include special discounted fares, while additional amenities like extra baggage will be added to the programme at a later date.
With Air France-KLM, clients will be able to access pricing offers, while seat bundles and sustainable aviation fuel options will be introduced ‘in the near future’.
“This represents another big step in taking the promise of NDC from theory to practice,” said Erik Magnuson, CWT’s vice president of product management, travel content & connectivity.
“Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we have worked closely with our airline and technology partners to innovate and advance key NDC initiatives over the past two and a half years, and we continue to do so,” he added.
“There is still some way to go before NDC can be adopted at scale and its full potential is realised, but we are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation. Our customers are already beginning to reap some of the benefits, while still keeping their core travel programme priorities intact.”
The TMC, which has been focused on NDC adoption since 2019, plans to expand the pilot through 2022 to include other airlines on both the Amadeus and Sabre platforms.