British Airways is strengthening its NDC (New
Distribution Capability) platform with new initiatives designed to
enable agents to better integrate and manage NDC in the
operational environment.
NDC is a travel industry-supported programme
launched by IATA to
improve communications between airlines and travel agents. NDC
facilitates access to a richer and more complete inventory from
the airlines, as well as access to the wider range of services
they offer, than was possible through legacy systems.
The latest changes will drive BA closer
to achieving IATA's goal of 20 per cent of indirect bookings
through NDC APIs by the end of 2020. British Airways has already
exceeded this target in the UK.
From the end of March, travel agents connected to
NDC will benefit from enhancements to complex servicing
capability, which will allow them to accept or search between
different flight options, without the need to contact a call
centre.
British Airways NDC platform will now include
full servicing prior to ticketing for agents who offer their
customers a delay between booking and ticketing. This will give
agents the ability to change dates and times for held bookings.
This follows the launch of a new 24/7 NDC Service Escalation
Process which complements existing support structures already in
place.
The airline is also expanding its Long Haul
Additional Price Points across more routes and introducing extra
price points on Short Haul. The lowest three Short Haul Basic
inventories will now only be available through NDC and direct
channels for customers starting their journey from the UK.
British Airways Head of Distribution, Rogier van
Enk said, These enhancements demonstrate our commitment to
delivering more choice and value to customers and trade partners.
Its just the beginning of our 2020 distribution strategy and we
will continue to listen and collaborate with our agency partners
as we expand our NDC offering. If there is
ever a time for trade partners to join us on this journey, its
now.
The additional price points and Short Haul Basic
content will be available through any trade partner connected to
British Airways NDC APIs and
through the airlines direct channels.
Subscribe to our
Travel Industry News RSS
Feed . To do
that in Outlook, right-click the RSS Feeds
folder, select Add a New RSS Feed, enter the URL of our
RSS Feed which is: https://www.travelnewsasia.com/travelnews.xml
and click Add. The feed can also be used to add the headlines to your
website or channel via a
customisable applet. Have questions? Please read our
Travel News
FAQ. Thank you.