BCD Travel, American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) have all joined Amadeus’s NDC-X programme within the last week. This follows hot on the heels of Flight Centre Travel Group, which joined in March.
The agreements mean that the agencies will have access to both NDC content and Amadeus’s existing GDS content, to provide input to the design and act as a driver customer in the creation of, Amadeus NDC-enabled solution for travel sellers. The final product (the industrialised version) will be launched in 2019.
Gianni Pisanello, VP, NDC-X programme, Amadeus, said: “We have our eyes firmly fixed on industrialisation next year.” He added that the aim of the NDC-X programme was both to ensure that the industrialised product responded to travel seller requirements and to prepare its trade partners to implement the industrialised version of its NDC content in 2019, which will include servicing capabilities.
Thane Jackson, vp, global distribution & channel strategy at BCD Travel, said he believed the travel industry at large would benefit from the programme’s focus on practical NDC use in a test-and-learn environment. He added, “Our aim [in joining the programme] is to provide a seamless customer experience that drives the booking, spend management and security processes that add value to client programmes.”
Vince Chirico, CWT senior vp, global network & technology partners, believes partnering with the GDS is the fastest way to realise the potential of NDC and deliver enhanced options for CWT’s clients.
How the NDC-X programme will roll out in the SA branches of these TMCs remains unknown at this stage.
Look out for more on this in TNW, and the impact NDC and GDS partnerships are likely to have on segment fees.
