Delta Air Lines has joined Sabre’s 'Beyond NDC' programme - a cross-industry group working to accelerate the development, integration and testing of end-to-end NDC capabilities.
Sabre has also been working with Delta – which which was crowned Best Long-Haul Airline at this year's Business Travel Awards, and other carriers, on Airline Tariff Publishing Company's next generation storefront (NGS) standards.
“Delivering a modern-day retail experience in third party channels requires changes across the distribution ecosystem. Sabre’s Beyond NDC initiative is a great platform for cross-industry collaboration, which we see as an opportunity to deliver the benefits of NDC at scale, while minimizing disruption to our agencies and customers,” said Jeff Lobl, managing director, distribution strategy, Delta.
Powered by its air shopping API, Sabre’s NGS solution categorises airline offerings by product attributes and normalizes the data for easy comparison shopping. This solution will deliver initial shopping results that include carriers’ complete product lines, ensuring Sabre-connected travel agencies, OTAs and other third parties can provide better information to help travellers choose the offer that is right for them.
“As content becomes more complex due to branded fares, a la carte ancillaries, bundling, and soon dynamic NDC offers, the industry faces another challenge - how to display the diverse offers in an easily comparable way,” said Brett Burgess, senior vice president of product, Sabre Travel Network. “Our solution provides the built-in flexibility needed to compare and integrate multiple attributes, and to evolve with our customers’ needs.”
Meanwhile, ATPCO is inviting interested parties to join its Next Generation Storefront working group of airlines, sales channels and technology providers including Sabre and Delta, to provide ongoing governance over the developing standards.
“The Next Generation Storefront will drive a more effective approach to shopping and a dramatic shift in how travelers think about overall value when buying flights,” said Jonathan Savitch, chief commercial officer ATPCO. “We’re delighted to see Sabre’s innovations in this industry effort to modernize flight shopping through NGS and look forward to building on this foundation with Sabre and the industry at large.”