Travel technology firm Sabre Corporation says it expects to ‘bring to life the promise’ of New Distribution Capability (NDC) in 2018.
The company predicts that it will achieve several milestones in its journey to offer NDC-enabled solutions by the end of this year.
Sabre achieved Level 3 NDC certification as an IT provider in February and plans to achieve Level 3 as an aggregator by the end of 2018 (it is currently Level 1 certified).
It plans to launch new service-enabled APIs and enhanced capabilities in the Sabre Red Workspace that will allow customers to shop and book NDC content alongside traditional content. The company is working closely with existing customers such as Flight Centre and will begin a pilot programme with additional agency and airline partners in the third quarter of this year.
Kathy Morgan, vice president of strategic initiatives at Sabre, commented: “NDC standards introduce tremendous opportunity for Sabre’s business, our customers and the industry overall – to the ultimate benefit of travellers as we model a new and differentiated travel experience. To bring the promise of NDC to life, our capabilities will go beyond shopping and booking and will integrate with the retailing, distribution and fulfilment systems that support the travel ecosystem.”
Morgan heads up Sabre’s effort to invest its ‘Beyond NDC’ across its solutions. The initiative involves the introduction of the API, as well as bringing to market its Digital Airline Commercial Platform.
Sabre says more advanced capabilities will follow in 2019, including NDC-enabled offer and order management.
Morgan continued: “We’re currently in discussions with a number of airline and agency customers on an NDC-enabled pilot programme. The goal is to collaborate with strategic pilot partners on development and integration with our solutions, testing our end-to-end capabilities to process NDC-enabled offers.
“NDC-enabled technology represents a monumental step forward for the travel industry as we modernise retailing and distribution solutions to meet evolving customer expectations. The NDC standards are a promising start, but Sabre will innovate beyond NDC to make the promise a reality.”
sabre.com