The FINANCIAL — Amadeus and International Airlines Group (IAG) have partnered to announce their commitment to drive advanced travel retailing through NDC. Through the agreement, content from IAG operators, including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, will be made available for travel sellers, agents and corporations through the Amadeus Travel Platform via Amadeus’ NDC-enabled solutions according to British Airways.
British Airways and Iberia NDC connections to Amadeus are targeted for the second half of this year, with Vueling following in 2022. Further information about Aer Lingus implementation will follow in due course.
This agreement is another milestone in Amadeus and British Airways’ strategy to embrace digital retailing practices. It allows for an improved user selling experience and access to current and future personalised offers such as Additional Price Points (continuous pricing).
Rogier Van Enk, Head of Distribution at British Airways, says, “NDC is the future of retailing for our industry and we’re excited about the possibilities that it is enabling. It is encouraging to see key players in the travel ecosystem like Amadeus sharing this vision by supporting the rollout of NDC. This deal will create more choice for our trade partners, including personalised content and new exciting offers to come in the future.”
“This is an important moment for the travel industry as we welcome one of the world’s leading airline groups into our NDC family. We are proud to have deepened our partnership with IAG, which will unlock new retailing capabilities and push forward global NDC adoption,” says Javier Laforgue, Executive Vice President of Airline Distribution & Content Sourcing at Amadeus. “NDC and the integration in the Amadeus Travel Platform will equip IAG to reach our industry’s new opportunities and meet changing traveller needs head-on. This agreement once again reinforces the value of our technology and collaborative approach across the industry to bring NDC to scale.”
Both organisations have already started to work on the integration of IAG’s NDC content into the Amadeus Travel Platform. This will ensure that agents worldwide will be able to search, compare, book, and service IAG NDC content in one merged display through their go-to Amadeus solution.
According to British Airways, this agreement is another important milestone for NDC’s adoption across the industry. Now more than ever, there is a need for more scalable end-to-end solutions that are thoroughly integrated into the travel seller’s ecosystem to ensure NDC bookings can be made and serviced efficiently.
For full details, eligibility and terms and conditions for accessing IAG NDC content through Amadeus, travel agencies should contact their airline Account Manager or visit the BA Comms Hub.
