FCM Travel Solutions is starting to roll out Lufthansa’s NDC-enabled continuous pricing offering to corporates in Europe.
The first market for the roll-out is Germany where large multinational clients will have access to the content via Concur Travel and other preferred online booking tools (OBTs).
The Lufthansa Group airlines’ NDC Smart Offers will also be bookable via FCM’s proprietary online booking tool Arrivon, which serves the needs of SME clients in Germany.
Lufthansa Group launched the new pricing model, part of its NDC Smart Offers, in October enabling its airlines – Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS and Brussels Airlines – to set fares in a continuous series of price points rather than the 26 alphabetical fare buckets that have traditionally been used.
From the end of November, FCM clients in the UK will be able to access Lufthansa‘s new fare offering through their preferred OBT. Other European markets where FCM has equity-owned operations including Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland will be able to provide continuous fares via their OBT by the end of this year.
FCM clients have already had access to the group’s other NDC content since early 2019 via aggregators in each European market, including TPConnects in which FCM’s parent company Flight Centre Travel Group secured a strategic 22.47 per cent stake in March of this year.
Marcus Eklund, global managing director, FCM said: “We are extremely pleased to be among the first TMCs to give our customers seamless access to Lufthansa’s continuous pricing offering which they can book online via an OBT or ask our consultants to book offline via our preferred aggregators.
“As one of the largest global TMCs, we have aimed to be at the forefront of working collaboratively with our airline and technology partners for the last two years to embrace NDC and ensure our customers have access to the widest choice of fares and content.
“This focus hasn’t changed in 2020 despite the seismic shift in business travel caused by Covid-19. If anything, effective NDC booking solutions are going to be even more important to airlines and TMCs in the post-pandemic environment as customers are looking for greater price parity, as well as increased support with flight disruption and traveller safety.
“However, our customer-centric content strategy has always been to work with airline partners whose NDC offering is truly beneficial. As a result, we will never roll out NDC solutions that do not enhance the customer experience.”
Stefan Kreuzpaintner, vice president sales Europe, Middle East and Africa at the Lufthansa Group, said: “Jointly we aim at providing our customers access to the most attractive NDC Smart Offers and to enhance the end-to-end experience of our product innovations for all partners in the value chain. This way, Lufthansa Group airlines and FCM will create tangible value and pave the way towards modern airline retailing.”