At a recent media
briefing, TNW questioned
Lufthansa on how
the airline planned to
accommodate the trade
should agents choose to
book through the airline’s
agent portal rather than
the GDS.
Tamur Goudarzi-Pour,
Lufthansa vp of sales
and services for the
Middle East, Africa and
South Eastern Europe,
said the airline did not
expect a significant shift
in bookings away from
the GDS to its online
portal, largely because
the technology to support
the shift was not yet in
place.
“If agents’ back-office
systems are not there
yet, it won’t happen,”
he said, adding that the
airline was not out to
penalise agents as the
cost of the surcharge
would ultimately fall to
the client.
He said, though, that it
was necessary to make
a first step towards new
distribution channels
because of the cost to
airlines of operating
through the GDS.
He implied that the
future of the industry
lay with Iata’s New
Distribution Capability
and agents would see
more airlines taking up
the cause. “Lufthansa
will not be the last airline
to make this move,” said
Tamur.
NDC is the future
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