News
Travelport gains IATA NDC Level 3 certification and secures Jetstar Group deal
December 21st 2017
UK-headquartered global distribution system (GDS) provider, Travelport, has been certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a “Level 3” aggregator under IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative, which is intended to create a new distribution standard for the airline industry. Read More »
NDC is a XML-based data transmission and display industry standard designed to simply communications between airlines and travel agents. Travelport is the first GDS to gain Level 3 certification, ahead of competitors Amadeus and Sabre.
“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 synchronization,” said Travelport senior vice president and managing director, Derek Sharp.
“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,” said IATA’s Yanik Hoyles, who is in charge of the NDC transformation.
Separately, Travelport last week secured a multi-year rich content and branding merchandising solution agreement with Australian Jetstar Group, providing more than 68,000 travel agencies globally with access to content from all four airlines within the group – Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Pacific and Jetstar Japan. The four Jetstar carriers will be able to display their branded fares and ancillary content in a graphically richer and more visual way.
“This agreement enables Jetstar Group to give travel agencies in Travelport’s network enhanced content and easy access to airline ancillary offers, improving upselling capabilities for both the airline and the agencies,” said Travelport vice president for the Asia-Pacific and global sales strategy, Damian Hickey. He added that in this region 80% of travellers still rely on the traditional indirect agency channel when planning travel.
