As the industry looks towards recovery, priorities for airline professionals are evolving. Many see airline control over the offer and its distribution as a critical driver for long-term profitability. And greater airline control requires NDC. One such airline making an impact with its NDC distribution strategy is Accelya customer, Qatar Airways.
Qatar recently announced plans to introduce a new platform to enable trade partners to build tailored travel experiences for their customers. Providing a great user experience, Oryx Connect will give travel agents access to rich airline content and better functionality when customizing travel experiences for their customers. In addition to getting content directly from the platform, agents can also access NDC content from various aggregators, including Aarongroup, Duffel, Travelfusion, Travvise, and Verteil.
Qatar will not be penalizing booking via traditional indirect channels with surcharges and other barriers. Rater, Qatar has publicly announced that it is incentivizing travel agents to use its NDC channel. An important stimulus is providing travel agents with excellent offer and order management capabilities from booking, servicing, ticketing, and payment.
Qatar is not alone in pursuing distribution freedom with NDC. According to the Airlines: A Path Back to Profitability report, 68% of airlines use or intend to use NDC as part of their retailing and distribution strategies[1]. Transformation is happening, and the Qatar initiative brings more clarity as to how industry priorities are evolving.
To find out how Accelya helps airline optimize their distribution strategy, please visit Accelya.com.
[1] “Airlines: A Path Back to Profitability” report, page 28
Source: Accelya