Travel commerce platform Travelport has been certified by IATA as a Level 3 aggregator under the NDC initiative.
The aggregator is the first GDS platform to achieve Level 3 status and says it will work with airline technology specialist Farelogix to implement a NDC connection with a major global airline, the details of which it will announce soon. The company also worked with UK travel agency Meon Valley Travel to prepare for certification.
Travelport achieved Level 1 aggregator certification for its GDS in November 2016 and Level 2 as an IT provider in February 2017. Level 3 is the highest certification awarded by IATA and represents a company’s ability to execute full offer and order management.
Derek Sharp, senior VP and MD of air commerce at Travelport, said: “We are grateful to IATA for this recognition and delighted to be the first travel commerce platform to now be fully NDC-Certified for the multisource era in distribution. We already connect travel buyers through the airline database ATPCo to more than 280 ancillaries. This NDC status will complement that. It will also complement our extensive existing API connections and our valued tools for critical workflows, servicing and synchronisation. This is a complex process for all participants and we look forward to working with other partners in making this new era a success.”
Yanik Hoyles, director of IATA’s NDC programme, commented: “GDSs are a fundamental business partner for NDC to drive significant volumes. For that reason, we welcome Travelport as the first GDS to become NDC level 3 certified as an aggregator. As a certified aggregator, Travelport will now be able to bring NDC to their existing customer base and broaden the scope to a wider range of airlines.”
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