Avianca becomes first Latin American airline to sign up to Amadeus Altéa NDC

Tech will make content available on Skyscanner’s desktop and mobile channels Continue reading →

Latin American airline Avianca has become the first in the region to adopt the Altéa New Distribution Capability platform developed by Amadeus.

The tech provider and GDS said Altéa will enable Avianca to deliver its omni-channel strategy by offering shopping and booking capabilities compatible with Iata’s new NDC standard.

Avianca is the latest airline to participate in Amadeus’ NDC-X program under which Amadeus is developing its IT provider and aggregator capabilities.

Vicky Huertas, commercial vice-president, airlines Latin America and Caribbean at Amadeus, said: “Our Altéa NDC solution will help Avianca extend its reach.

“We already provide Avianca with a wide range of IT solutions and we’ll now enable its omni-channel approach with Altéa NDC.

“This will allow Avianca’s content to be available via NDC XML connectivity to meta-search engines, travel agencies, and technology providers.”

Gianni Pisanello, vice-president of the NDC-X program, added: “It’s fantastic to have more and more airlines working with us within our NDC-X program.

“Through Altéa NDC, we are working with airlines to further develop the technology that will enable them to distribute exciting new offers using the NDC standard.

“Our objective is to drive adoption of NDC in the industry, and to make it work for airlines, travel sellers and other industry players.”

Amadeus said the NDC partnership with Avianca will help it personalise its offering to customer demand and a wider range of travellers, as well as making the booking experience seamless.

Amadeus Altéa NDC enables airlines using Altéa PSS (Passenger Service System) to distribute their offers to third parties using the latest industry standard.

With the highest Level 3 Iata certification, Altéa NDC supports end-to-end booking flows and provides offer and order management functionality.

Amadeus said Avianca will be able to integrate ancillary services for bookings from travel agencies and metasearch companies, allowing it to upsell products via third parties.

“Amadeus Altéa NDC will allow us to offer our customers an enriched content of products and services,” said Silvia Mosquera executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Avianca.

“To start with, we will use Amadeus Altéa NDC to make our content available directly on Skyscanner’s desktop and mobile channels. Then we expect to extend the solution to other partners in our ecosystem.”