Travelport rules out NDC pilots, presents Iata with key questions

Travelport rules out NDC pilots, presents Iata with key questions

Travelport has told Iata that it is too busy with its existing production schedule to be able to pilot any airlines through its New Distribution Capability platform.

Travelport has told Iata that it is too busy with its existing production schedule to be able to pilot any airlines through its New Distribution Capability platform.

The GDS is still working closely with Iata on the development of NDC which promises to turn the distribution system on its head.

In a statement this week Travelport issued three questions it said needed to be answered by Iata over the intentions of NDC.

These sought to ascertain whether Iata intends to preserve transparency, balanced governance and the involvement of all stakeholders, including agents.

Having launched its new air merchandising platform this week, Travelport’s focus was on bringing more carriers into the GDS fold, particular the growing number of low-cost airlines.

“Travelport is currently in implementation with a number of additional carriers using XML technologies which will further extend the list of carriers present within the Travelport GDS without them having to use existing industry standards.

“If an Iata airline wishes to use NDC schema to distribute products to production then we are happy to work with such an airline but at this time our production workload means that we cannot partake in pilots for NDC.”

The statement continued: “To date our concerns [about NDC] have not been fully addressed. We call on Iata to demonstrate a commitment to meaningful, transparent governance among all the interested parties.”