New distribution capability introduced at BA
NDC is the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) programme that improves communications between airlines and the travel buying community by addressing the industry's current distribution limitations around product differentiation, time to market, access to full and rich content and the transparency of the shopping experience.
To date, British Airways NDC programme has enabled connected parties to book published fares on British Airways and partner carriers. The latest changes will enable any corporation with a British Airways contract and access to an NDC-enabled system to gain full access to their deal, including holding a booking, paying at a later date, cancelling their itinerary, and adding ancillaries such as seat reservations and pre-order catering. They are also able to make changes to flight itineraries such date and time changes and cabin upgrades.
Courtesy British Airways
Marie Hilditch, British Airways’ head of corporate sales, said: “We’ve been working collaboratively with our travel partners on NDC to actively engage with them and keep them up-to-speed with the developments. That’s delivering rewards now as we’re seeing real interest and adoption from the travel industry. The addition of corporate fares to our NDC capability makes it much more relevant for TMCs and travel managers. The rich information and access to all British Airways content provides more insight to base booking advice and decisions on. They’re also able to more easily manage ancillaries and drive real value for their clients.
“And this is just the start, as we’ll be evolving and developing more services via NDC to equip travel bookers with all the content and tools they need to make managing itineraries quick and simple via systems they already have in place.”
Other recent NDC developments from the airline have included the ability to pre-book additional luggage, advise the airline of catering requests (pre-order in Club World and First, pre-paid enhanced meal options in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus and special meal orders), add Executive Club and On Business numbers to bookings and pay British Airways via IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan.
