British Airways and Iberia’s NDC content will be available
to users of Concur’s new platform by the year’s end, the booking tool provider has confirmed.
Content will be made available via GDS connection and the partnership will enable users to avoid the airlines’ Distribution
Technology Charge, including the customers of those TMCs whose private channel
agreements will expire on 31 December.
Concur did not specify from which GDS/s it would source the airlines' NDC content nor which markets it would initially be available in.
“The vast majority of TMCs want NDC content via the GDSs because
they’re built around them,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel,
adding that “the vast majority of [post-booking] servicing gaps [for airlines’ NDC content]
have now been filled.”
NDC content from airlines including Air France-KLM, American
Airlines and United Airlines has already been rolled-out to Concur customers
using its new platform which debuted a year ago for Sabre GDS users in the US.
The company also went live recently with a direct connect
integration of Ryanair content in its new platform.
“Between GDS, direct connect and TripLink, we continue to
give customers the tools they need to obtain the content they want, wherever
they want,” said Paul Dear, regional vice president - supplier services EMEA at
SAP Concur. “NDC is a part of that, and we are rapidly growing the number of
airlines on our NDC content base to continue to offer more flexible options to
our customers.”
Dear said the company had made “hundreds” of enhancements
and refinements since its upgraded platform was released a year ago, including reinstating
a popular matrix view of airfare search results.
The booking tool’s guest traveller feature is yet to
roll-out, while Amadeus Hotels content will not be ready until Q1 of 2025, Dear
confirmed.