Iata’s NDC driven by airlines trying to reduce distribution costs, says John Bevan

Dnata Travel Europe chief executive says carriers will need huge IT departments Continue reading →

Iata’s NDC is “all about airlines trying to reduce their cost of distribution”, according to dnata Travel Europe chief executive John Bevan.

Speaking at an Amadeus sponsored discussion at Abta’s Travel Convention, Bevan said: “Airlines are trying to change the model. This is about airlines trying to reduce their cost of distribution.”

He said dnata is creating its own NDC solution “because we feel we have to, because a whole bunch of fares are not going to be available through the GDS”.

Bevan said: “British Airways is quite a long way down the line [with NDC]. Most of its European fares are available through NDC.”

He insisted: “The airlines underestimate what you do for them. They can cope with one agency doing a few routes [via NDC], but they are going to need huge IT departments.”

Ken McLeod, SPAA president and Advantage Travel Partnership director for industry affairs, said: “The airlines have stated they have three aims. They want to sell more product. They want customers to be able to see product to differentiate, and they want to break the monopoly of the GDSs.

“My concern is we will spend all this money and some other technology will come out.”