Lufthansa has announced that Siemens' business travellers in France
and Belgium will use NDC for flight bookings from October.
The airline said that employees of the German home appliances to
trains conglomerate will be able to book NDC fares through SAP Concur, with the NDC content provided via distribution partner Travelfusion.
Heike Birlenbach, senior vice president sales Lufthansa Hub
Airlines said, “We are convinced that this collaboration with Siemens will take
us further down the path to modern airline retailing, promote a unique customer
experience and enhance the impact of our product innovations for all the
partners in the value chain. This successful interaction of globally operating
partners also proves that the NDC model is an end-to-end success in the
business travel sector.”
Siemens has been booking Lufthansa group flights using a direct
connect with the airline since 2016. In mid-September, the airline announced it would increase its fees for bookings through indirect channels from October.
The company uses BCD Travel as its global TMC partner which services
its travel bookings and supports payment processes via iBTA cards and
individual corporate credit cards. As part of the new deal, Siemens corporate travellers will have
access to exclusive NDC Smart Offers such as Continuous Pricing.
Thorsten Eicke, vice president for global category mobility at
Siemens, said: “After the successful start of our direct connection to the
Lufthansa Group airlines in 2016, we are now embarking on the next stage in our
technology partnership. Our business travellers are already benefiting from
Siemens-specific offerings. And we will now also have direct access to the best
offers of the Lufthansa Group airlines, the NDC Smart Offer.
“Our complex end-to-end
processes are fully mapped, and our Siemens travellers receive optimal support
with full market transparency.”
After the roll-out to France and Belgium, Siemens’ employees in Germany
and Switzerland will also switch to NDC bookings.